Would It Make It Any Better?
by Brucas-causelivingsnotenough
Summary: What would life have been like if Dan had chosen Karen over Deb? Lucas over Nathan? What would happen if Lucas was the popular varsity player and Nathan was the outcast? Where would the put Brooke, Haley and Peyton? Would it make life any better?
1. Pilot

_So i know i really shouldn't be starting yet another new story but i couldn't help myself with this one, it was just begging to be written. I do however promise that this is to be my last new story until i've completed one of the current ones. Promise._

_So i don't think i did this story justice in the summary so i thought i'd explain more here for those who want to read it. As i'm sure you all know during Season 2 Nathan has a dream in the hospital in which Dan picked Karen over Deb, leaving him and Deb to be free of him. This is my favourite episode of OTH so i decided i'd continue it, the first chapter is pretty much a written up version of that episode but as if it was real life and not Nathan's dream. As i love it so much i wanted to change very little of the way it was set up so i only removed certain parts - such as the Brathan as it's not appropriate for where i want this story to go. The story will feature many scenes that were actually in the season and many events will happen but it will just show how the characters act completely differently all because of one different decision that was made. I've also cut a great deal of the adult story lines and they'll only come into play when they affect the main five. The end game couples are yet to be decided as i have no idea if i'll follow this story through to a season two or a season three or whatever so it really could go either way but if you read my other stories you'll already know the way it will most likely go! _

_I really hope you like it and please just let me know. Thanks guys!_

* * *

7:00 AM.

Lucas reached over and slammed his hand down on the top of his alarm clock, silencing it. He groaned as he looked over and checked the time; he sat up and stretched out his legs before he put them down on the floor in front of him. He sighed as he bent down to pick up his iPod and slipped the headphones into his ears before he stood up.

He winced as his tired muscles began to ache and he groaned. Clearly he'd hit it a little harder than he'd planned to last night. He rolled his head to each side in the hope to relieve some of the tension in his shoulders.

He sighed as he prepared to do the dreaded walk downstairs and have the usual run in with his father. He knew his mom had probably rushed out of the house ridiculously early, that's if she'd even bothered to return the previous night.

As he walked in to the kitchen he saw his dad already up before him. He was sat at the table as he flicked through the paper. Lucas kept his headphones in place he walked over and poured himself a glass of water. He glanced up to catch his dad as he pushed his plate away and finished off the juice he was drinking. He pulled out one headphone as he knew that his dad was probably going to force him into conversation soon.

"You were out late, have fun?" His father asked him as he approached the breakfast table. He put his glass down in front of him.

It always had a habit of making Lucas smirk. Most of his friends would get a bollocking and a slap on the hand for coming in past midnight. Lucas on the other hand was praised for it, probably due to the fact that his father had no life of his own.

"You know, I was out with the guys." He smirked because his dad didn't know, he had no friends. He'd lost all of them when he went away to college and left his mom behind. When he'd come back, the only person that had been pathetic enough to welcome him had been his mom.

"I thought we could work out after school, do some weights?" He all but pleaded; the blonde knew it was only a matter of time before his dad began to beg to spend time with him. For a long time Lucas had been the only one that had looked up to Dan Scott, now like everyone else, he looked down at his father.

"Hmm, whatever." He shrugged him off. He decided that maybe this morning he should pity him instead of rejecting him out right as he happened to do when he was in a bad mood. The hangover from the night before had all but disappeared and it uplifted his mood.

"We should be offering organic products in all of our locations by now. We will talk about this when I get in. I'll see you in ten."

_Oh what a surprise, mommy dearest is still in the house,_Lucas thought as he continued to smirk as he looked down at the magazine. He ignored the facade that his parents put on for the family's sake. _Pathetic._

"Good morning Lucas," Karen addressed him. She leant towards him and kissed him delicately on the cheek. The act alone almost made him spit out the banana he'd just eaten; he'd stopped caring for his mom shortly after he'd shrugged off Dan's hold on him.

"Will you be home for dinner?" His dad asked as he looked away from him and towards his mom. Lucas rolled his eyes; he knew his mom wouldn't make dinner. She'd be too busy doing Uncle Keith.

"I'll call you," Karen shrugged it off as she walked towards him. She allowed him to kiss her on the cheek before she left the room. She didn't turn to say anymore to either of the Scott's that she was leaving in the house.

Lucas waited until he'd heard the front door close. The blonde once again pulled out his headphone as he picked a Whiskey bottle out of the trash and placed it on the table in between them.

"Late night for you too huh Dad?" He left the room and didn't allow Dan the chance to try and answer him.

* * *

Nathan smiled to himself as he approached the river court. All of the boys were already there playing the ball back and forth. He smiled and waving as they saw him approach. Antwon 'Skills' Taylor caught the ball and sent it his way. Once he caught it the raven haired Scott bounced the ball against the tarmac before he scooped it up in his hands once more.

"Nathan Scott, late as usual." Skills smirked as Mouth jumped up off the bench to walk over towards them.

"I had to stop by the post office." Nathan grimaced as he pulled out a letter out of his hoodie and held it in front of them. The letter from high fliers that would tell him whether or not he'd be a finalist; being a finalist would mean so much to him.

"High fliers baby, what's the word?" Fergie jumped in straight away, a massive grin spread out across his face as he, like the rest of the river court guys, was sure that Nathan would get in.

"I haven't opened it yet. Once I open it, it's either going to be a yes or no. I just thought I'd hang onto the maybe for a little bit longer." Nathan shrugged, completely unprepared for Junk to snatch the letter out of his hands and open it up quickly in front of the others.

"What does it say?" Mouth grinned. After he had spent the majority of the summer filming Nathan, he was just as eager to get the result as the rest of them. It was about time something good happened to 'the other Scott'.

"Say's he's a finalist!" Fergie beamed as he showed the letter to the other guys and they only read it before they grinned at Nathan.

"Nathan, that's awesome!" Mouth grinned as he patted the taller guy on the back. The rest of the guys held out their hands to get some knuckles from their successful raven haired friend.

"Guys, alright I'm a finalist but it's not like I've got into the camp yet." Nathan talked it down, forever trying to modest.

It was something that his mother had installed in him from such a young age. She was determined that her son would stay on the straight and narrow and because of that he was a good kid. The stories she heard that Karen's son got up to made her shudder at the thought of Nathan being in his place.

"Nate, I'm your best friend so I feel like I can tell you this dawg. Stop being so damn modest and come out here so we can keep your head on the ground." Skills smirked as he stole the ball out of Nathan's hand and began to bounce it.

"Let's just shoot for teams." he smirked as he stole the ball mid bounce and turned to aim at the hoop. The ball soared through the air, before it sank into the net. The guys chuckled with him as they ran onto the court.

* * *

The red corvette swerved round the streets of Tree Hill. The loud engine purred with life as its driver put his foot down further on the accelerator. The sun beamed down on the open topped care and the blonde was enjoying the drive. If only he could say the same about the company.

"So, you want to hang with the guys tonight?" He questioned. She hadn't spoken a word to him since he picked her up and he figured that was probably the best way to start a conversation with his on-off girlfriend of the last year.

"Oh gee Luke, there's a unique idea." She drawled as she continued to look away at the passing houses, as opposed to having to actually look at him. _It's pathetic. Just like everything else right now._

"What, come on Peyt? I'm not allowed to bond with the team now?" He protested as he looked over and saw her roll her eyes; a habit of hers that managed to really grate on him.

She'd always possessed the talent to piss him off beyond belief. It was a wonder they had even lasted a year. Then he remembered that it was because it was convenient; they break up then they make up. Everything he did in between the two she forgot about.

"What about bonding with your girlfriend?" She asked as she shot him a dirty look. He sighed loudly before he smirked to himself. He moved his hand off the gear stick and flicked a button on the cassette player to eject her tape. The drone of music instantly stopped.

"I was listening to that," Peyton muttered.

Her gaze was still straight ahead. She didn't bother to look at the blonde she was meant to be in love with. She often wondered why she put up with his crap. She could imagine exactly what her mom would say if she saw her, as she allowed him to treat her this way. But it was Luke, it was who he was, who they were. She couldn't help that he was comfortable, that he was the safe option.

"Fine, you don't wanna hang out with us. Why don't you sit in your room and listen to your loser rock and do live sex shows on your webcam for all I care!" He shouted as he cursed himself silently for losing his temper with her too quickly. He'd only just picked her up and she'd already managed to wind him up so much that he'd snapped at her.

"Lucas, look out!" Peyton screamed as he snapped his eyesight back up to the road. He found himself speeding towards a grey hooded figure stood in the middle of the road.

He slammed his foot onto the breaks and he just prayed that the car would stop in time instead of taking out the figure. His head pressed firmly against the headrest he found himself closing his eyes and just hoped the car would stop in time.

When the car had come to a stop he opened his eyes to see his brother stood in front of him, _if there was anything that could've made this day worse._He stared defiantly back at him as the darker haired Scott pulled out his headphones and smirked at the blonde.

"Daddy teach you how to drive?" He questioned, as he smirked down at his older brother. _Getting run over by Lucas, definitely not on the checklist for today._

"Yeah he sends his love," Lucas smirked up at him. Determined not to let 'the other Scott' have the better word in any argument that the two had. "Now get out of my way loser."

Lucas grinned and motioned for him to move by flicking his wrist. When Nathan made no effort to move he rolled the car forward enough so that it was pressing against his leg.

He looked from his older brother to his girlfriend riding shotgun; they were both as bad as each other. Their whole world ruled by popularity. 'I'm sorry,' Peyton mouthed which shocked him. He didn't expect the blonde to be kind; he'd always presumed her to be more cold-hearted like her boyfriend.

"Why do you treat him like that huh?" Peyton argued when Nathan had reached the other side of the road. When Luke scoffed her question she found herself pushing him further. "You know it could've been you, if your dad had picked his mom."

"Yeah like that was ever going to happen," the blonde smirked as he put his foot down and sent the car tearing down the road.

* * *

"Hey sweetie," Deb called as she looked up to see Nathan walking into the cafe with the usual basketball tucked under his harm. _Typical Nate._She smiled to herself; she wouldn't have him any other way.

"What's up mom, I got the mail, some bills, a letter from Uncle Coop and," he paused for effect. "And this, thinking of picking up some classes?"

"If they offer a course in making ends meet," she smiled up at her son. She was always so happy when he was around; their close relationship was the most important thing to her. Screw Dan Scott and his unhappy family, Nathan is all she has ever needed.

"You know, you could up the traffic in here by having some hot girls dance on the bar?" Nathan smirked at his mother who whipped him on the shoulder with the towel she had in her hand. She was still smiling at him when she turned back around to continue drying some clean plates.

"Speaking of hot girls, sorry I'm late." Haley smirked as she bounced up behind Deb, as she grinned at her best friend over the counter.

"Where were you today?" Nathan asked curiously, he'd expected to see Haley around and instead she'd just been a no show.

"Local trip to the library. If you ever actually listened to me you'd actually know that!" Haley feigned annoyance as she pretended to glare at him; he just smirked back at her. _Typical goofy Haley._

"Alright, I just can't believe you went out in public wearing that hat!" He chuckled to himself, causing Deb to giggle along with him and Haley to pout.

"Remind me why I'm friends with you again?" She questioned as she continued to pout, although everyone knew the answer to that. Haley James loved Nathan Scott and Nathan Scott loved her just as much if not more in return, just neither of them had admitted it yet.

"Nathan, this is from that basketball camp!" Deb exclaimed as she read the letter of acceptance, overflowing with pride.

"Yeah, I'm a finalist. It's not a big deal." He shrugged it off; he really didn't want everyone playing it up too much when he hadn't even gotten into camp.

"Yes it is, oh honey I am so proud of you." Deb smiled as she leaned over the counter and placed a kiss on his cheek. She replaced it with her hand and stroked the skin with her thumb.

"Yeah me too, we'll have to celebrate but right now, dirty dishes are beckoning," Haley over dramatised in a way that only she was capable of. "You rock, but don't let it go to your head." She smirked as she walked off. Nathan's eyes followed her until she disappeared out of sight. His actions not going unnoticed by his mom.

"You know, you two are going to end up married one day." she smirked knowingly as she imagined the two of them together.

"Stop it, we're just friends. We've known each other forever." He argued.

"Hmm, that sounds like a good place to start." she winked before she followed Haley into the backroom.

* * *

"You guys must be lost." Nathan called out. He had just made his way to the river court with the guys to play a little evening ball, to find that it was already being used, by Lucas.

"Whitey closed up the gym; we gotta have somewhere to run." Lucas smirked as he stepped away from the team and approached the five boys. The rest of the team quickly dropped behind him to back him up. They would ever leave Lucas to defend himself.

"Au Contraire," Tim spoke up. He was Lucas' wingman. _God, why does he always have to sound like such a loser?_

"Tim, just say yes we are. You see I'm in training for high fliers, not that you'd know anything about that now street trash." Lucas smirked to himself, bouncing the ball.

"Wanna bet?"

"Nate's a finalist too."

"Guys," Nathan interrupted. He'd really rather the blonde not knowing about that, if he failed to get in he knew Lucas would make it much worse for him,

"Pipe dream much," the Raven's team burst into sniggers and chuckles. The chance of anyone taking over Lucas's spot was unheard of, it just wouldn't happen. Lucas wouldn't let it happen "They only take one player from each school, who do you think they're going to pick. The star shooting guard of the undefeated Ravens or the river court bastard?"

Lucas chuckled before turning and shooting, the ball falling straight through the net and into the arms of a waiting Raven.

* * *

"I got you, come on, push Lucas," Dan grinned as he walked into the weights room and lifted the bar of Lucas, forcing it back into its holders.

"I had it dad," Lucas sighed wishing his father couldn't reach him in the gym. He had no privacy in his life from the man he called father, _god._

"What you slinging?" He smirked as he read the weights Lucas was working on, a chance to tear him down in front of the team couldn't be missed. Gaining Lucas's respect seemed to be a very difficult task these days, but he would get it.

"160," Lucas muttered as he sat up, refusing to meet the eye of anyone that walked past. He refused to see them pity him.

"I didn't know I had a daughter," Dan chuckled as he continued to get on at Lucas. "Gotta start two a day if you want to impress the high flier scouts."

"Why, because you couldn't back in the day?" Lucas shot back over his shoulder as he took a drink from his bottle; if Dan could throw smart ass comments at him then he'd more than happily return them. Tearing down his unsuccessful father wasn't a difficult task for the blonde.

"I'm just trying to help you Lucas." Dan backed down instantly, realising his mistake in pushing the only son he'd acknowledged.

"What do you know about your other son applying for high fliers?" Lucas looked up, genuinely interested to see his dad's response to the question. He may not be happy to claim his dad but he was even less willing to share him.

"Don't call him that," Dan sighed as he moved round to face Lucas. "Don't worry; he'll never make it anyway."

"Well, he made finalist." Lucas shrugged as he pushed off the bench and quickly exited the gym.

* * *

_Knock, knock._

Nathan jumped up off his bed and walked over to the door, he was expecting Haley to come over to watch some chick flick that she'd got herself excited over.

"You have the wrong son's house." Nathan said once he'd picked his jaw up from the floor after seeing Coach Whitey Durham stood on his porch.

"I need to talk to you about your gift," Whitey replied, indicating that this chat couldn't be done on the front porch in the cold weather. "I didn't know you could play 'til I saw that tape. You're a little rough around the edges but you have the makings."

"I'm not joining the team," Nathan interrupted. He wanted to get it clear up front; he had no interest of playing for the Ravens.

"I'm smarter than you give me credit for, asking you to play alongside Lucas with that ass crack of a father of yours as a coach. Well son, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy," Whitey chuckled, causing a small smile to appear on Nathan's face.

"Nathan, I'm going to level with you. You getting into that camp is a long shot. I can only pick one athlete. Normally Lucas would be a shoe in but I was impressed by your tape." Whitey sighed.

"Then pick me," Nathan urged as if it was that simple.

"I need to be sure that you can hold your own in a team situation though Nathan," Whitey murmured.

"I can't play in that gym coach," Nathan sighed.

"Then play on the river court," Whitey's face lit up at the thought. Nathan entertained it and wondered what the old man actually meant; surely he didn't want Nathan to play Lucas.

"You want me to play against Lucas?" He checked.

"Well technically," Whitey stood to leave. Walking over to the door and opening it he took a step onto the porch before looking. "Technically I want you to beat him, but that's up to you."

* * *

"So Whitey asked you to play against Lucas?" Haley asked, shocked that the Ravens coach had approached her best friend at his own house. She knew Nathan was good but she didn't know he had the backing of the team coach, especially over his star player.

"Yeah, although he technically he wants me to beat him." Nathan chewed it over, debating whether or not he should actually challenge his brother to a game at the river court. "Oh, look at this." Nathan smirked as he tore a packet open and pulled out a cheap bracelet.

"Oh score a bracelet, the last time I got one of them I got a fake tattoo of some random number." Haley smirked as she continued to talk away about something, staring at him when she realised he clearly wasn't listening to anything she was saying.

"Well you can have it, it matches that thing you call a shirt." He smirked as he took her hand and slipped it onto her wrist, grinning as he saw it resting there.

"My mother made this for me so shut up," she smirked at him and he just laughed back.

"You shut up."

"No you shut up," Haley commented again. She laughed at their childish bickering.

"Don't say I never gave you anything Hales," he smirked as he looked down at her bracelet and she followed his eyes and smiled. _Could everyone be right? Could she be in love with her best friend?_

_

* * *

_

"Watching the glory days," Lucas scoffed as he walked in through the door to see his dad sat on the sofa watching videos of his and his mom's high school years. _Could he get any more desperate?_Especially since the girl in the videos was probably out getting horizontal with his brother right now.

"So I'm nostalgic," Dan chuckled.

"That's one word for it," Lucas laughed coldly before turning to go up the stairs to his room. "Sweet dreams dad."

"Cut me some slack son, I look at you and I see me twenty years ago, reminds me of all that promise. If I ride you it's only because I want to see you triumph where I fell down. That kid is a risk to all of that," Dan turned and stood from the chair, desperate to get a real conversation out of the blonde.

"You mean your other son," Lucas said coldly.

"Only biologically, he means nothing to me and you mean everything." Dan spoke as sincerely as he could; Lucas scoffed at the thought of his father being genuine.

"I saw his tape and I was wrong when I said he was no threat to you, so you're going to have do whatever it takes to beat him." Dan continued, hoping to get a better response.

"Don't sweat it dad, he challenged me to a one on one. I'll protect what's left of your good name," Lucas smirked before looking back to the TV to see his mom stood there in between Dan and Keith. "You've got bigger problems anyways."

* * *

"Lucas, you're up late." Karen yawned as she entered the kitchen, wishing she'd just spent the night at Keith's as opposed to coming home to the cold and hostile house that waited for her.

"Makes two of us," he muttered before turning to leave the kitchen. He regretted the way his and his mother's relationship had turned out but that's what happened when she decided her affair was more important than her son.

"Meetings you know." she lied. Even though she knew by now that she didn't need to, Lucas had known about it for all too long.

"Yeah I know." he smirked and shook his head. _No wonder I'm such a screw up._He thought to himself as he began to walk away from him mom.

"Hey, wait. I thought I'd make some cocoa. We could talk like we used to." Karen tried to reach out to him. For years he'd been waiting for her to do so, but he'd given up long ago.

"Want a late night chat mom? Call Uncle Keith, I'm sure he'd come running." Lucas smirked as he left the kitchen, this time not to be called back.

* * *

"Nathan, of course you have to play the game." Haley whispered across the desks, they were sat together as they were in every other class.

"Haley, its Lucas." Nathan reminded her, challenging Tree Hill's IT boy was bound to cause more drama than Nathan wanted.

"You've already challenged him now Nathan. Don't let him stop you going for your dream. You've got to shoot for the stars." She giggled at the cheesiness of the last line.

"What are your dreams?" He whispered back.

"I never told anyone this, but I'd really like to be a singer." She giggled as she told him her ambition in life.

"A singer?" Nathan chuckled.

"Yeah, it would be cool. Touring the country and stuff..." Haley trailed off as she thought of how great it would be to break free of all the cliques in Tree Hill and just do her own thing. Writing songs about falling in and out love and sing to crowded venues every night.

"It's just; I've never heard you sing before." Nathan shook his head, shocked that Haley had been able to keep something like this from him for so long.

"Yeah I know, doesn't mean that I don't dream about it." She giggled and pulled a goofy face before turning back to the board. _God, I love her._Nathan sighed as he watched her take down the rest of her notes.

* * *

"I thought it was time to break the ice," Dan smirked as he approached the lone player on the river court. He'd just dunked the ball through the net and collected the ball, before he ran back to take a long shot.

"After seventeen years, nice try." Nathan cold shouldered him and threw the ball through the air. A satisfied smile crept onto his face when he saw it drop through the chain.

"That's my DNA you know." Dan chuckled as he collected the ball and began to play with it.

"If that's what you need to believe." Nathan shrugged, determined not to let Dan get to him today or any other day of his life.

"Let's get right to it, I'll give you five hundred bucks to withdraw your application." Dan smirked as he reached into his back pocket; Lucas's future was just too big of a gamble.

"Wife give you this week's allowance," Nathan chuckled as he took a step back from his father. Trying to put as much space between them as he could.

"You really think you can win this thing? You're kidding yourself, just like your mom was kidding herself when she moved to Tree Hill." Dan smirked, the smug look still playing on his face as he turned to walk to his car.

"You know I wasn't sure if I was going to do this thing but now I am going to play, and I'm going to win." Nathan smirked back at him, more certain than ever that he had to win the game.

"I guess you are my son after all."

* * *

"You ready?" He grinned as he walked straight in through the open bedroom door, her house was always open. Especially to him.

"No," Peyton turned in her chair to face him. "I'm not going."

"Come on Peyt," Lucas sighed as he moved towards her. "I thought we were going to work on getting back to normal."

"Okay, trust me when I say that normal is the last thing that I want with us Luke, in case you haven't realised normal sucks with us. And I hate it when you call me Peyt." she shouted as she stood up and walked towards him, finally letting out months worth of emotions.

"Is this about Nathan?" He argued; she'd been acting out of character lately. She pulled him up on everything he did wrong and he was fed up of it. If she wanted the 'mommy's boy Scott' she should just go over to Nathan's and leave him to it.

"No, this is about you. I'm starting to see who you are and I maybe late to that party but better late than never!" She continued to yell and he was beginning to wish he'd just left her up here to sulk on her own rather than come see if she was actually going to be a civilised girlfriend for once in her life.

"You know what; I'll just come back when you're not so PMS." He sighed, using that as his exit line to get away from the curly haired blonde.

"Don't bother Luke, I mean it. We're done." She sighed as she flopped back down into her chair, he'd never fight for her. He was Lucas Scott, fighting was just one of those things he didn't have to do.

"Your loss," he smirked. She'd practically just given him permission to screw whoever he wanted after tonight's win. "_Peyt."_

_

* * *

_

"Let's get this game started," Whitey called as the two Scott brothers faced each other on the court. "Four on four, let's hustle." Whitey shouted out and the Raven's immediately got into a huddle to discuss the plan for the game. _Give me the ball._Lucas told them.

"No, me against him. That's the way it's always been, why should tonight be any different?" Nathan challenged, he didn't want to hide behind the river court boys tonight. It would be just the two of them tonight.

"Your funeral." Lucas sighed as he caught a ball that Tim threw to him and began to bounce it.

"Fine, game to eleven by one." Whitey called out as Lucas went to walk past Nathan to the circle. The raven haired Scott put his hand out to stop him. The blonde glared at him for daring to do so.

"Shoot for ball," Nathan sighed and watched as Lucas threw it up and it soared through the air before falling straight the hoop, the satisfied smirk on his face grew.

* * *

"Rate my last two girlfriend's folks and you have the score, it's ten to nine in favour of Nathan Scott." Mouth called over the crowd as he recorded his podcast, dressed up in a suit as he sat on the bleachers with the river court boys.

"Oh and that's a foul by Scott," Mouth called out as Lucas elbowed Nathan in the nose before throwing the ball up and getting another basket. Nathan waved away the cries though and picked up the ball, "Scott calls it good however, no foul, basket counts."

"You know he's never mentioned you once, not in all these years." Lucas smirked as he readied himself to get the ball of Nathan.

"If you think things would've been different if he'd married my mom then you're a fool." Nathan replied a smile in place as he knew that this was going to be the winning shot. He knew that right then and there he was going to beat Lucas, beat Dan, beat all of them.

"No, you're a fool and after you miss this basket a loser too," Lucas snarled coldly as Nathan bounced the ball, guarding him closely.

"Scott's broke free and has made the shot," Mouth smirked as Nathan threw the ball from a distance. The whole crowd watched as it arched in the air before it soared down into the net. Cheers from the river court boys could be heard.

"Looks like Nathan's off to high fliers after all huh Danny?" Whitey smirked as he walked over to congratulate the younger son.

"It's only a game Dan," Karen muttered as she walked off. Not being able to bear the humiliation that Dan would heap onto her son about the way he'd played tonight.

Lucas looked around and he saw the cheerleaders stood their looking shocked. Brooke Davis for once had nothing to say. She just offered him a meek smile that he responded to with a slight nod, before he turned to her left to see Peyton smirking at him.

Yet what tore the young blonde down most was looking to catch his father's eyes and watching Dan just turn away, turn his back on the Raven's star shooting guard.

* * *

_So that's the first chapter, i really hope you like it because i really enjoy writing it. I'm not taking credit for the majority of this though as it was all the writers of the show and i just moved bits and cut bits out. The next couple of chapters will be uploaded soon if the feedback is positive because i'm bored and as i said i find this really easy to write at the moment as opposed to my others. So please just leave me a little review to tell me if you like it or not!_


	2. Suddenly Everything Changes

_So due to such good feedback i have updated again just for you guys. I hope that you all love the second chapter, i apologise for the little amount of Brooke in this chapter again as i know a lot of you are eager to see what she's going to be like but be patient. I have already started Chapter Three and i can promise you that she is pretty much the centre of it, so forgive me? Thank you. Please review at the end, i loved reading them last time!_

* * *

"Yo, tell me we didn't just steal a school bus. 'Cause this feels like we just stole a school bus!" Tim continued to grin as he swung an arm around his best friends shoulders as he beamed from ear to ear. His merry attitude mostly due to the alcohol, it wasn't like the bus was short of it.

"Dude, we just borrowed it alright?" Lucas smirked back and grinned at his best friend.

After he had been humiliated in front of the whole school he figured that to make his comeback it would have to be something good, something that would shake up Tree Hill. Stealing the school bus happened to be one of his own genius ideas.

"So Lucas, where's Peyton?" A girl asked behind him.

_Peyton,_he still hadn't patched things up with his long-term, on-off girlfriend. Not that it worried him. _Peyton can be dealt with in the morning, when's she's got over her little tantrum._

"Who knows. Why?" He smirked cockily. He leaned back in the seat so that he could look up at her.

He was shocked when she forced her lips onto his and she kissed him roughly. It appeared that his defeat at the river court had had little effect on his popularity; the whole of Tree Hill still worshipped him as the golden boy. It was only his dad that was yet to let the defeat slide. It's not like the bastard had joined the team or anything. He wouldn't dare do that.

Just as he began to shut off his thoughts and focus solely on the lips that were currently attached to his he heard a scream; the scream of Brooke Davis. He pulled away and he looked around quickly to find out what had the brunette in uproar. He hoped she wasn't going to give him a bollocking for cheating on his girlfriend, who just so happened to be her best friend.

"Look out," Tim shouted seconds after.

He spun back around in his seat. The blonde caught sight of the train barriers down and a train speeding through; a collision was pretty much certain. He slammed on the breaks as hard as he could he found himself once again pressed hard against his seat as the force pushed him back.

_Don't crash, Luke,_he prayed under his breath as the bus stopped just short of the track. He sighed loudly with relief when he felt the vehicle stop moving completely.

As he grinned to himself he looked at the girl next to him and realised she wasn't as attractive as he had hoped. He decided to go on the pull once more when someone offered up their house for a party. Might as well make use of the freedom from Peyton.

"Shit," Tim cursed and he once again glanced up to see what had his best friend so panicked. He saw a police car on the other side of the track with the lights flashing. He knew he was done for. He really was never going to hear the end of this.

* * *

"Lucas Eugene Scott, don't you walk away from me." He heard his mother call, not that he could hear her all the clearly however. The music that blasted into his ears from the small headphones was doing a pretty good job of covering up all of her words.

"I'm going to my room," he sighed in the hopes that she'd just leave him alone.

He knew what he had done was wrong, that stealing a school bus was wrong. But who cared really? His father had relaxed the second he'd found out that he'd be able to get him out of serious punishment. Not because he cared about his sons welfare. He just didn't want him getting banned from the basketball team.

His mom however had decided that today of all days, that she would step up and act like a mom. Well the act was wasted on him. He continued to walk down the hallway and he ignored her pleas to come back into the kitchen and 'discuss' his actions.

_Like that was ever going to happen._

"Can't you just say something to him Dan?" Karen screamed like a women possessed. Lucas pulled out his headphones and he stopped to hear the confrontation between his parents. Was this the stick that broke the camel's back?

He heard his dad mumble something about the blonde being unreachable and he shook his head.

_Like anything would ever change around here._He heard the backdoor slam and presumed that was his mom leaving for the cafe, or for Keith. It was usually one or the other that ranked above him and his father.

"Look son," his dad began. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the man enter the hall. Dan approached him slowly as if he were a ticking bomb that was about to go off.

"Save it dad," the blonde muttered as he shook his head and made the trip towards his bedroom.

It had been worth it, the police were forgetting that he and Tim were ever there. That meant that no serious punishment would be dealt out to them. It meant that he'd restored his reputation at no cost. _Win-win._

_

* * *

_

"Some of your parents see this incident as tom-foolery, a little prank. I personally see a little breaking and entering. Chief Waymen sees possession and consumption by minors and a smidgen of Grand Theft Auto. That said punishments will be given out accordingly. These players name were not involved and will not be punished." Lucas rolled his eyes as he heard the speech from the principle.

_What could he really do? Ban the full team?_

He looked over and smirked at Tim, knowing that the two of them would get off Scott-free. The rest of the team would probably get a tap on the wrist and that would be that. The Varsity basketball team was the heart of Tree Hill. No one would dare take that away.

"Lucas Scott," he heard his name be called out following Tim's. Dan squeezed his shoulder meaning it to be reassuring. He tried to shake it off but found the older man's grip too strong. As long as he could still play basketball it appeared that daddy still loved him.

"As for the rest of you, you are all suspended from extracurricular activities. Specifically basketball." A groan escaped the mouths of every player in the room as the consequences of their actions hit them hard, more than half of the team banned for the rest of the season.

That could only mean that Lucas would be triple teamed at least, instantly decreasing his scoring record. That would lead to the scouts not coming to watch him play which would in turn lead to him not getting to college to play ball and that wasn't an option. He had to get away. Tree Hill had held him back for too long.

Looking at his dad he saw there was no surprise showing in his eyes. He'd known about this punishment long before it had been handed out. Looking down at Tim he saw the horror in his friends eyes. If he wanted the championship this year he was going to have to do it all himself. Simply because he had no choice, there was no one else to do it for him.

* * *

"Scott," Whitey called as he walked into the study hall.

A group of juniors were meant to be in there working but like most students the majority bunked off and spent the time gossiping and creating rumours about the people dropping off the A-list. It was constantly changing, a handful only stayed on top. Included in that handful had to be the King of Tree Hill. Lucas Scott.

And every king has his Queen so to speak, Brooke Davis. The best friend of his girlfriend was lounging across the desk next to Luke. The two of them surrounded by people that wanted to run with the popular crowd. The two of them just played it cool, as always.

"What's up coach?" Lucas looked up, surprised that his Coach would seek him out in the middle of a class.

Whitey had known that he'd been involved in the school bus fiasco. Pretty much the whole school knew that it had been Luke that had choreographed the idea. He just got away with it; it was how it worked.

"Not you, you." He pointed behind the blonde and at the raven haired brother. The King of the social crowd being mocked by his coach. Whispers were already flying around the room and that's what got to Lucas.

It wasn't so much the fact he shared a surname with the bastard, or the fact that he played ball. It annoyed him that out of everywhere he could play he choose to steal Lucas's court, steal his coach. All of the things that were meant to be his.

He looked up and he caught Brooke's eye. She gave him a small smile and he knew she understood what he was thinking. The countless rumours that went around about them both daily was tiring. He gave up on keeping up to date with the daily news that had apparently happened to him.

"I bet you can't wait to cheer for me tonight right Davis?" He smirked up at her; the two of them had always had a funny friendship of sorts.

They had been thrown together by their mothers from such a young age and they had had each other's backs ever since. Brooke had actually hooked him up with Peyton a year ago; guess he should thank her for the rocky relationship he found himself in.

"Be careful Scott. We do want you to be able to get through the doors in the gym. At the rate your heads expanding it will make it awfully difficult for you to play." Brooke smirked back at him. Her dimples on full display.

He loved his simple friendship with Brooke; she wasn't needy or whiny. He didn't have to make an effort to talk to her all the time. He could go weeks without having to have a conversation and she would still chat happily with him. In fact the only time she ever got on his ass was when he screwed up with Peyton, but she would never stay mad at him for too long.

Her parents had flown her away for the summer and she'd arrived back just in time to see Nathan beat his older brother at the rundown court on the other side of town. She didn't care much for the spot, or even for the fact that Luke had lost. She just cared for him. Sure he'd turned into an ass lately but hadn't they all?

She remembered the distant days where he would come and sleep over and camp out on her bedroom floor. He would tell her stories until she'd drift off to sleep. She missed the innocent boy that he used to be, but then the same could be said for her.

When she'd introduced Peyton to the mix they'd become the three musketeers. They partied hard every weekend because they had nothing else to do. Family activities and all that were a thing of the past.

"It's sweet that you worry, but don't you worry Davis. I'll be fine," he smirked.

He knew she was reading more into what he'd just said than he'd intended but he didn't really care. No matter what she read into it he knew it would stay there, Brooke Davis wasn't one to gossip.

* * *

"You know you need to talk to him for me Deb," Whitey sighed as they pulled up on the gravelled car park that overlooked the basketball court.

He'd picked Deb up in the hope that she could persuade Nathan to join the basketball team. He'd been pretty adamant earlier that it was the last thing that he would ever want to do.

"But why would you want to put him through that Whitey?" Deb asked, the thought of her son playing for a team that his father coached, a team that his half brother happened to be the star off. There was no way she was going to try and convince her son to play in those circumstances. She's not sure she'd cope seeing him like that.

"Because he deserves to know that he's good Deb, not just playground good either. You saw the look on his face when he beat Lucas, imagine him feeling like that week in week out. I know he can do it," Whitey smiled, speaking passionately about the player.

"Are you sure it's not just so that you can win some trophy?" Deb questioned cynically, it was the way she had to be as a single mother. Everything came second place to Nathan; having him so high in her priorities it was only natural that she did everything and anything to protect him.

"Nathan is a great player Deb; I wouldn't tell him to do this if I knew I couldn't protect him but I can. Dan is the assistant coach Deb, he has no real power in the gym, and I've been looking for a reason to bench Lucas so if he steps out of line he knows the punishment will be severe." Whitey continued to persuade her.

"If, if Nathan says he wants to do it after I talk to him then I have no problems with him joining the team. But, you better make sure my son's okay." Deb smiled as she stepped out of the truck to walk over to her son, a smile playing on her face as she imagined what it would be like to cheer him on from the bleachers.

"I promise Deb," Whitey smiled as he backed the car up and reversed out of the car park. Nathan joining the team would be in the best interest of everyone, well, everyone bar the other two Scott's but winding Dan up had always been a fun sport to play.

* * *

"What are you wasting your time doing now then?" Lucas grinned as he walked into his girlfriends room, or soon to be girlfriend again. They were still due to make up after their most recent break up, but the blonde knew that it wouldn't be a problem. A few sweet words here and there and he'd be back in the good books.

"I didn't hear you come up," she muttered. She knew she'd taken a stand against Lucas during their recent argument and she didn't really want to back down from that, she wanted the relationship to actually become something more than the pathetic fights. She wanted him to change, wanted him to change for her.

"Oh, what a surprise." He chuckled dryly. He had only spent a few minutes in her company and she'd already begun to bore him.

He wished he'd stayed out with the guys instead of coming to find his ex, but then he figured that the whispering about them wasn't going to stop until they made up so he better make it sooner rather than later.

"So I waited for you tonight," she muttered.

He had text her during the day saying that he'd run round after school so that they could talk and sort through all of the problems they'd been having recently. His wording in the text had really made her reconsider ending the relationship. Lucas Scott had a way with words.

"The guys wanted to hang out," he replied. He looked around her room just so that he didn't have to catch her eyes, her blue irises burning holes into him.

"Oh gee, nice of you to let me know Luke." She shouted as she stood up and leaned against the door way to her closet, her arms folded across her chest defensively. Here comes the insensitive asshole that he normally was. No matter how hard he tried she knew he'd never change. Not that he really seemed to want to anyways.

"I'm here now," he sighed as he sat down on the bed. He didn't see why she bothered to drag out the getting back together process; it always ended with the two of them in her bed so he didn't see why they couldn't just cut to the good part.

"But now it's late and I don't want to talk Luke." she whispered.

It was always on his terms and it always would be unless she actually did something about it, but she was losing the will to do so. Their relationship always required her putting in so much effort; effort that nearly always went to waste anyway.

"Fine then, don't talk to me. Sit in your stupid closet and draw something stupid, I'll talk to you tomorrow." He yelled at her, waving his hands around as he turned to leave. He looked back over his shoulder and saw a tear slip down her cheek, it worried him that that tear didn't bother him. None of it did.

"Maybe it should really be the end Luke." she whispered. Her voice cracked and she struggled to control it; the problem was that she cared so much more than he did. Remembering he'd come round to make up and not break up he figured she'd be easy now.

"Look Peyton, I'm really sorry. It's that just most of the guys have just been suspended so they wanted to bond or something. It's not like I had the chance to say no. You know that if I had it my way I'd have been here with you all night." He walked over and gently cupped her cheek and ran a thumb along her jaw.

"Really Luke?" She smiled up at him. She loved it when the blonde made out that she was the most important thing in the world. Even if she did know it was a lie and everything would go back to normal tomorrow. It meant that much as he claimed that and it made her feel special.

"Of course, trust me. Being here with you right now is making my night a lot better." he smiled and decided that he didn't want to talk anymore. He decided to lean down and kiss her instead. His words must have got him somewhere because she kissed him back eagerly.

* * *

"So, when you going to tell us man?" Skills questioned as he continued to run with the ball, jumping up and shooting it through the air. He smirked as it fell through the hoop and Fergie picked it up to throw back to him before he began all over again.

"It's nothing," Nathan shrugged as swooped in on Skills and stole the ball off him. He dribbled it across the court before he jumped up and dunked the ball as he swung on the hoop.

"Whitey asked you to play on the team and it's nothing?" Fergie questioned as he began to run with the ball himself, taking it to the three point line and attempting a shot. He cursed as it bounced of the board and into the ready hands of Nathan who began to bounce it on the tarmac.

"Look, it's not a big deal because I'm not going to play." The brunette shrugged it off, so what if the coach of the team had asked him to play.

_No chance in hell of it actually happening, _to play against Lucas was one thing, but to have to play with him? With their dad coaching them both. _No chance._

"Look at it this way Nate, we've been playing here since we were what? Twelve years old? And I've won how many games? It's just a damn shame if you ask me." Skills muttered as he took the ball out of his friend's hands and tossed it between his palms.

"I didn't ask you," Nathan muttered, instantly regretting as he saw the boys face fall. "Look I like playing here with you guys, I don't want to let them ruin the game."

"You can still run here with us and run up in the gym with Whitey, just give it a shot Nate." Fergie grinned and knocked Skills, causing him to drop the ball that had most of his attention.

"I'll think about it," Nathan sighed.

The river court boys were just one of many that were pressuring him to join the Ravens. Between them, Whitey and Haley it was like there was constantly someone pushing him into it.

* * *

"Your mom called, her business trip has been extended so she won't be back 'til next week." Dan walked into the kitchen to see Lucas sat on the bar having a snack, his blonde girlfriend leaned against the side cupboards glaring up at him.

"You know Whitey asked your other son to play right?" Lucas looked up at his dad, not at all shocked that his mom had decided to extend the trip. The only thing that sparked some curiosity was whether she was in fact away on business or just away with Keith.

"What have I told you about calling him that?" Dan glared at the boy. He noticed

how he smirked at Peyton before he looked back down to his now empty plate.

Dan knew how Lucas loved to wind him up. The best form of defense was attack and Lucas knew that all too well. He constantly ribbed into his dad for fear that if he stopped worse would come back to him.

"He took our name dad; it's just a bit screwed up. People pick up on it at school," Lucas muttered. He wished that he hadn't chosen to start this conversation with Peyton in the room, he knew she was listening in.

"Listen Lucas, I want you to scare this kid off," Dan walked over so he was stood directly in front of him. He placed both of his hands on his sons shoulders so he had no choice but to listen. "If Whitey's asked him to play the chances are he's going to join the team. You're not going to let that happen."

"I'm not scared of that street trash dad," Lucas scoffed as he pushed his dad up and nodded for Peyton to start heading up to his room. She clearly wasn't too pleased about him bad mouthing Nathan but he didn't really care. If she wanted to befriend the bastard that was her choice.

"We don't want him coming in and stealing your play though Lucas, your shots, your points. There is something big at stake here Luke. Your future. Don't screw it up." Dan gripped the blonde's shoulder firmly before he stormed out of the kitchen and towards their home gym. It left Lucas with only one option.

* * *

"You know Nate; basketball doesn't just run from Dan's side. Your grandpa used to love the sport; god he'd be there every week at whatever match was on just watching the players." Deb sighed as she walked over to where he was sat in the garden, probably waiting for Haley or something. The two of them were always together.

"You never mentioned that before," Nathan looked up from a book he had resting on his lap. He put it to the side and he stretched his legs before he clasped his hands together and looked at his mom. Clearly she had something she wanted to talk about.

"I just want you to know, you have a gift Nathan. A true gift and it's not fair that nobody gets to see it; your grandpa would have loved to have seen you play. You're too talented." Deb sighed.

"Mom." Nathan shrugged, he knew where this conversation was going.

_Join the team Nate; let Lucas have even more chance to beat on you. Every missed shot would just add to the misery the blonde causes._

"Nate, you know I wouldn't even begin to have this conversation with you if I knew that Whitey couldn't protect you." Deb sighed as she wrapped her arm around the back of him and pulled him close so his head was resting on her shoulder.

"It's just..."

"My past is not your future son, don't let them stop you." Deb smiled and kissed him on the forehead before she stood up; talking about Dan always managed to reduce her to tears. Tears that she wasn't going to let Nathan see and misinterpret as something else.

"Ma," Nathan called as she walked around the side of the house. She stuck her head back around and caused him to laugh. "I love you."

* * *

"They say the kid has game, maybe we could use him?" Tim shrugged as they walked around the Scott household, clearly on their way out. Lucas turned and laughed at him and shook his head.

_Trust Tim to think that._

"Don't be stupid, the only person I'm using around here is Peyton." Lucas sniggered as he threw open the back door and unlocked his car, waiting for Tim to follow.

"Nice. So where are we going?" He grinned, laughing hysterically at his best friends comment. He followed him to the car and jumped in the front seat. Luke had invited him over to play playstation; there was no mention of going out.

"Too see the brother," Lucas smirked as he reversed out of the drive and hit the accelerator. Over-revving the car all the way to the river court, at which point he pulled on the handbrake and allowed it to come to a stop just short of the court.

"Losing once wasn't enough for you?" Nathan smirked as Lucas jumped out of the car, Tim immediately at his side.

"You beat me once, fair play but we both know that if we were to play again I'd do you over." Lucas shrugged as it if was a fact. If he had it his way he wouldn't have that game spoke of ever again.

"What do you want?" Nathan asked bluntly.

It wasn't as if the blonde had arrived to give him tips or wish him look for the game tomorrow night. He'd come to get equal. Being beaten by the younger brother must really be causing him hell on the social scene. And if that hadn't have been enough for the guy then he was almost sure that Dan must be beating his ass about it.

"I let you beat me once; do you really think I'm going to let you take my team? Take my life? My girls?" Lucas knocked the ball out of his hands with his fist and they both watched it drop the floor before it rolled off the court.

"I'm joining the team Lucas, you should get used to it." Nathan replied with the same blunt tone.

_Take his life, his girls? What was running through the guys head? _Nathan really didn't want to take anything of the other Scott's; he'd rather they had nothing to do with each other. It wasn't his fault Tree Hill was so damn small.

"Fine, I can't wait to watch you choke," Lucas smirked, "I was looking forward to taking you down but I know now that you're just going to do it yourself. In fact, it will be fun to watch. Thanks _brother."_

_

* * *

_

"So that's the one that beat Lucas right?" Brooke grinned as she looked at the boys walking onto the court. The number three sure to make them all proud. Peyton looked over and nodded at her. She refused to make eye contact with her boyfriend.

"That his girlfriend?" Brooke questioned as she looked up to see the darker haired Scott waving at a girl in the stands. "Not even my grandma would be seen dead in that hat." she muttered which caused the blonde to chuckle. _Typical Brooke._

The brunette continued to look around the gym, she lived for game nights. A chance to get out of her big empty house and be surrounded by people that worshipped the game, the team and the cheerleaders. It sounded shallow but she didn't care.

This was her world, a world that neither of her parents could touch. She caught sight of Luke as he shook his head at the cheerleaders before he picked up a ball and shot it straight into the basket, his eyes narrowed in on the girl next to her.

"You and Luke had another fight P?" Brooke asked curiously, she hated it when they fought.

_Which was pretty much all of the time._She had to act as some sort of glue that kept their relationship together. She often wondered what would happen if she just refused to do it any longer.

"When aren't we fighting?" Peyton sighed; the latest argument had really got to her.

After she had witnessed him and Dan going at each other she knew the whole Nathan thing was getting to him but when she'd tried to talk to him he'd just told her shut up and had started to kiss her.

* * *

_Shit. _It was late on in the fourth quarter and Lucas was having the worst game of his life. He imagined what was going to kick off when the final whistle ended. Dan would probably beat him there and then in the middle of the court. Peyton would smirk at him along with Nathan and then they'd leave him to face the popular crowd.

He'd fumbled the ball several times and had scored a measly twelve points and missed many more easy lays. Unfortunately the Ravens weren't even losing either; they were being saved by none other than Nathan Scott. For every shot that Lucas would miss he'd put two in the basket, giving the Ravens a lengthy lead.

A long ball down the court by Tim and Lucas ran after it, determined to slam it through the net this time. As his fingers snatched at the ball it spun and sent it towards the cheerleaders and away from the player that needed it so badly.

"Nice hands," Peyton smirked.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't enjoying Lucas' poor game. The guy had to get what was coming to him and she was just happy to watch. The blonde's downfall wasn't an easy viewing for her best friend though who couldn't help but pity the guy. She glared at her friend for tearing him down further.

"Nice legs, _Brooke." _He smirked as he purposefully checked out the brunette. He allowed his eyes to run slowly over her curves. He licked his lips unconsciously, he knew this would piss Peyton off. She constantly compared herself to the brunette.

_Who was prettier? Who had more friends? Who did everyone like more? _She'd mentioned her insecurities to him in the past when they were in a better place. She had never imagined he would play on them now.

"Behave Broody," Brooke sighed.

She hated the way she'd get put in the middle of their fights. She wished they'd just make up again and go back to sucking face all the time. That had to be better than this.

"Scott, you're benched." Whitey smirked from the sidelines as he beckoned the blonde over. He gave Nathan the nod to carry on playing. He caught his father glaring at him from the stand and decided then and there that he wouldn't be staying at home tonight. _No matter what._

_

* * *

_

"It's just a game Luke." Karen smiled as she walked up to him outside the locker room. He knew she hadn't watched him play, she'd managed to catch the last couple of minutes and must have heard how badly he sucked from someone else.

"Nah, we both know it's more than that ma. It's everything to him," Lucas shook his head as he looked around at the empty corridor. This was probably the most honest conversation he'd had with his mom in years and he didn't want anyone listening in.

"Come home, we can have some coco Luke." Karen all but pleaded with her son, Keith was making her more and more aware to the jerk that he'd become in her absences. She really wanted to try her hardest to make him a better man, to make him so much more than his father.

"Thanks for the offer but I'm staying out tonight," Lucas sighed as he saw players beginning to file out from the locker room. The cheerleaders following behind them, Peyton glimpsing up at him. "I'm going to stop at Peyt's."

"Are you?" Peyton rolled her eyes. She really didn't want to spend any time with the blonde at that moment but the look Brooke gave her told her that she couldn't leave him at the school. "Let's go," she muttered and walked towards the car with him.

* * *

"Oh god Luke, come here." Peyton moaned as Lucas' lips collided with her own once more, her breath was short. She ran her hands through his hair, constantly pulling him closer as he ran his hand up her top and teased her with his fingertips.

Lucas sighed before he pulled back, when he said he didn't want to go home he hadn't meant that he wanted to have sex with Peyton in the back of his car. He'd genuinely just wanted to get away from the game for the night. He wanted Peyton to make him forget and she was failing to do so.

"Sorry," he mumbled before he kissed her again. He could tell that she'd let him do anything with her right now. Her moans in his ear were usually enough to make him hard but tonight nothing was working. He just didn't want to be around the blonde cheerleader, also known as his girlfriend.

"Look I should go," Lucas sighed as he pulled away once more and straightened up. He pulled on his shirt to sort it out. He wasn't up for this tonight.

"What?" Peyton protested. He'd never pulled away from a make out session before. Normally it was him that would pressure her into it and she'd be the one who wanted to stop. That is until he really got her going and then she never wanted to stop.

"I just don't want to make out with you tonight. Maybe I wanted to talk." Lucas sighed as looked out of the window. He hoped that she wasn't going to ask for a heart to heart all of a sudden.

"No, you don't. You never want to talk." She shot back as she pulled her top back over her body and ran a hand through her hair. She jumped out of the passenger door in the hopes that he'd follow her and make it up to her; just like he normally did.

"Fine, just leave Peyt. You can walk home." he muttered as he locked the doors and sped away. Leaving a cold and confused cheerleader to walk home alone.

He drove to the only place he knew. He wished he'd thought to just come here straight away instead of wasting his time with Peyton. He shut off the engine he walked up to the door. He knocked loudly as he knew it would be locked.

"Luke?" She sighed as she opened the door to see him stood on her doorstep with his hand shoved into his pocket. He rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet and just looked at her. He knew that she was waiting for him to say something.

"I need you." he croaked. Afraid of showing too emotion he kept the sentence short, wondering what she was going to do. She let the words linger in the air before she leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I know you do." she sighed as she pulled him into the house.

* * *

_Oh, there was a little more Brooke then i remembered but still, there will be more next chapter! I hope you all liked it and there will also be more Naley next chapter as well, didn't realise that there wasn't much of them. Hope you like it but please just leave me a little review to let me know what you think. Thanks guys, you rock._


	3. Hanging On To Familiar Faces

_I hope that you're all still liking the story, leave me a review to let me know what you think!_

* * *

"How was your summer then?" Brooke smiled across at him from her position on the sofa; her legs were sprawled out as she stretched out fully across the plush cushions.

He knew what she was doing, starting the conversation off light so that he had a chance to hide the emotion. She'd always done that for him as she knew how much he hated to look weak. In front of her anyway.

"Well, Mom and Dad spent it fighting," He sighed. "Peyton and I spent it fighting. Oh and then my bastard brother shows up and kicked my ass at a one on one match, but you saw that for yourself."

"Stop being whiny Lucas, it suits Peyton so much more than you. I'm going to start with the fact that Nathan didn't kick your ass alright. It was one measly point that in the grand scheme of things doesn't matter all that much Broody." Brooke sighed; he'd taken the defeat hard as she knew he would have done. "What are your parents fighting over these days?"

The brunette shivered. She had forgot to put the heating on when she'd got home, so the giant house was freezing. It wasn't like there was anyone else around to look after her, she'd have to do it herself later after Luke had gone.

Lucas stood up and smiled as he walked past her and out of the door to leave her in there confused and alone. Brooke wondered what he was up to.

"Luke, if you're planning on killing me and you've gone to fetch the knife it would be nice to have some warning. That way I can at least run around like a bimbo screaming my head off like they do in the movies." Brooke smirked from her place on the sofa as she saw him walk back in empty handed. He laughed at her ramblings.

"You forgot to put your heating on. If you did that it would warm you up faster. You may think you're a closed book Davis but I happen to know you very well." He winked as lifted up her legs and sat down next to her. He put her legs back on his lap and ran his fingers up and down her calves.

"Is that so Scott?" She smirked back at him. She couldn't help but flinch every time he ran his thumb over a ticklish spot on her leg.

He was glad that she didn't hesitate or move away from him like she sometimes did. She would claim that Peyton wouldn't approve of the two of them being that close. He didn't care about what Peyton thought and he really wished Brooke didn't either.

"Am I going to get it back Brooke? I mean, I throw the ball and it goes through the net. I don't have to ask questions or think about it, it's just what happens." Lucas sighed as he rested his head in his hands before he straightened up and looked at her once more.

"It's just a game Luke," she whispered. She sat up so that she could rest her hand in his and allowed the other one to slowly run through his hair.

"It's just never enough for him Brooke; I'm never enough for him." The blonde replied as he looked up at her, his piercing blue eyes caught her own. The honesty that shone in his eyes was something that she hadn't seen in years. She remembered the days when they would talk about him being in the NBA and her being his cheerleader.

"I'm here for you Luke," she smiled as she pulled his head down towards her. She kissed him on the forehead before she pulled him into her fully and wrapped her arms tighter around him.

"I've been thinking about quitting the team," he whispered into her shoulder.

His breath was warm on her arm, she couldn't help but close her eyes at the comfort he brought her. She didn't say anything as he knew that she wouldn't. He could say it as much as he wanted but they both knew he would never quit.

"Come on," she sighed as she stood up, their hands still locked together. She pulled him up off the sofa and led him towards her room. He shut the door behind him as he walked over to her queen size bed and sat on the edge of it.

She pulled her top off quickly and then slid her jeans down her legs. She didn't mind changing in front of him; it wasn't like he hadn't seen her in various states of undress over the last ten years of their close friendship. He handed her a baggy t-shirt of his out of her bottom drawer; it held a lot of his stuff from over the years. He slipped into an old pair of pyjama bottoms and the bottom of them finished way above his ankles.

"Nice," she smirked as she slid onto the bed and admired his pyjama pants. "Had a growth spurt have we Lucas?"

He scowled at her before he pulled a plain grey shirt over his head and grinned at himself as he took in his appearance. What half the school would say if they saw him like that. This would be one thing they would never let him get away with.

"Just because you wanted me to sleep naked. I think you shrunk them deliberately just so I would," he smirked as he flicked out the light and jumped into bed next to her. His arms instinctively wrapped around her and pulled her into his chest. Her head was nestled against the crook in his neck.

"Night Broody." she whispered as she rested one of her hands against his abs, the other tucked underneath her.

"Thank you." he whispered back just as quietly.

She didn't respond but he knew she wouldn't have fallen asleep that quickly. She was probably thinking of Peyton and how lying here with him was betraying her best friend, but he didn't care because he needed her more than the curly haired blonde. He always would because she was the only person who understood him and never judged him.

* * *

"_Peyton isn't here right now, only her lame music_." The blonde scowled into the phone as he heard his girlfriends bitter tone.

Unfortunately the morning after wasn't as good as the night before. Brooke hadn't exactly shooed him out of the house but she made it clear that it was going to be awkward if he stayed, so he'd just kissed the side of her head before he left.

"Cut it out Peyton, I just rang to apologise to you." Lucas sighed; the make up break up was really starting to wind him up. With all the drama in his life it wasn't like he really needed the extra bit that Peyton brought, maybe next time he'd leave the make up a little bit longer.

"_To apologise_?" Peyton questioned, she didn't trust a word that he said anymore. He'd ring to apologise and they'd just end up arguing anyway, she was fed up of it.

"I'm sorry okay? It's just my dad's really riding me at the moment and he gave me such a bollocking about sucking last night. Then there's my mom who's never home and it just difficult on me and I know I shouldn't take it out on you and I'm sorry for that." He tried to sound as sincere as he could but his heart just wasn't in it. He knew she'd pretend to take a moment to consider and then right on cue.

"_It's okay Luke. Pick me up for school tomorrow and we can just be us_." She sighed into the receiver.

Normally she would make him try a little bit harder but right then she didn't want to have to stay on the phone longer than necessary. She was expecting a call from her dad. Not that she could actually talk to Lucas about that however because he was a jerk who didn't care.

"Thanks Peyt, see you later." He sighed as he put the phone back down on the side seconds before his dad walked into the room.

"Listen Luke, I don't want you to back off this kid okay? No matter what he does or what Whitey says, he's just using him to get back at me." Dan sat down on the edge of the bed and Lucas just looked up at him and shook his head as he laughed.

"It's always about you right Dad?" He chuckled as he lent over his desk to pick up a book he'd been reading. He flicked through the pages until he found his bookmark.

"Look, I know I'm hard on you but the only reason I am is because it's just you and me." Dan gripped Lucas shoulder tight to force him to look at him and take part in the conversation.

"No dad, I'm on my own in this. But don't you worry. Your son won't be on the team for much longer." The blonde shook his head before he pulled away from his grip and settled back down onto his bed and began to read.

* * *

"Hemingway was always a good writer, but he became great when he learnt that less is actually more." The teacher sighed as he walked around the classroom; the vast majority of the class weren't paying attention. Some had phones 'hidden' under their desks whilst others just stared off into space.

"Peyton, describe Lucas in one word." The teacher issued the task. He thought it was harmless, asking a girlfriend to describe her boyfriend. He just prayed that she wouldn't take it x-rated.

"Jerk," Peyton muttered loudly enough for the class to hear her. Lucas spun round and glared at her. Weren't they supposed to have made up? _Pathetic._

The classall began to whisper about the golden couple's recent argument but Lucas found himself quickly losing interest. The baggage that came with being Peyton Sawyers boyfriend was seriously getting him down now.

"Now Nathan, describe Peyton in one word." The teacher sighed as he looked around the room. The raven haired Scott had been the only one who appeared to pay any attention to the lesson.

"Smart," Nathan smirked as he looked up at the teacher who quickly realised his mistake when he saw Lucas rise out of his seat. His fist quickly connected with Nathan's jaw as they both fell to the floor. Peyton's eyes widened as she saw the fight take place in front of her.

"Break it up." the teacher shouted as he managed to get in between the two. He pushed Lucas out of the door and pushed Nathan back into his seat, before he sent Tim out to make sure that Lucas didn't do anything stupid.

* * *

"Hand." Brooke moaned as the beautician ripped off another wax strip from the back of her legs. The blonde's hand instantly was in hers and squeezed it tight as yet another strip was pulled off in a quick and painful manner.

"You hear about the fight today then?" Peyton sighed as she continued to flick through the magazine with her free hand. She glanced up to see the brunette's reaction. She hated the jealousy that rushed through her when she thought of the friendship her boyfriend and best friend shared.

"Oh yeah. It's been expected though hasn't it? Luke's been freaking out ever since Nathan showed up in the basketball circle." Brooke muttered. She just wished that the broody blonde would forget everything Dan told him and just deal with the fact that Nathan was on the team.

"It was your house he went to the other night then?" Peyton smiled softly. It was comforting but at the same time like a nightmare coming true. If Lucas had been with Brooke then she knew he hadn't been out cheating on her, but it still didn't put her restless mind at ease.

"Oh yeah, he was really down about the argument that you two had." Brooke lied instantly. She didn't know why but she figured that if she told Peyton that he hadn't mentioned her more than in passing it wouldn't go down well with her best friend.

"I just... he's so out of reach at the moment." Peyton sighed as Brooke squeezed her hand tightly, the pain presumably too much.

"He loves you Peyt, you have nothing to worry about. Lucas really does love you," Brooke smiled as she looked over her shoulder at her friend. She could tell that the rocky relationship was very much close to tipping over completely at the moment. She really would have to try her hardest to balance it again.

* * *

"So are you going to talk to me about the fight that you got involved in?" Karen almost yelled as she burst into the house. Anger clear in her tone as she threw Lucas' door open and threw her bag down on the floor. She was clearly furious with him.

"What?" Lucas rolled his eyes; he hated the charade that his mom had insisted they play the last couple of months. He couldn't care less, she couldn't care less and his father definitely couldn't care less, so why should they all pretend.

"Fighting in class Lucas? Fighting at all?" Karen questioned as she threw her arms up in the air to show she was serious; that she meant business.

"Look mom, he had it coming alright." He shouted in an attempt to shut her up. He wondered where his dad was when he actually needed him. Hadn't he been talking about the two of them being a team only a couple of days ago? _Then where is he._

"Do you even realise how bad this would look on your college transcripts?" Karen stressed again.

Lucas was just desperate that she'd leave. His dad would only praise him for punching Nathan later anyways so what did it actually matter.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with playing poorly would it?" Karen asked, her whole tone changed as she realised that the bad game he had the other night was probably still affecting him. After all he was a Scott and she knew very well that the Scott men did not like to lose; her son seemed to have inherited that same gene.

"What do you even know about that Ma? It's not like you were there." He shouted before he jumped up off his bed and walked out of the door. He made sure to slam it loudly behind him.

* * *

"What are you doing in here Lucas?" Whitey sighed as he made his way over to his star player; he had never kept his opinion of Lucas a secret so the two of them had never spoken like a coach and a player.

The blonde was constantly challenging him just like his father had done. Having Nathan on the team had done exactly what the old man had hoped. It had knocked Lucas down a peg or two.

"I guess I just wanted to get away from my parents," Lucas sighed as he sat on the bleachers of the Tree Hill Raven's basketball court. Only a few days ago he had played on that very same court as the whole town watched him choke.

"Look son, I know we've never had the ideal relationship but that's not down to you. Your father is so caught up in the game that he's never just taken a step back. Winning is his only priority, whether it's for himself or through you." The old man sighed as he sat down next to the young boy, it was clear he was troubled.

"I've been thinking about quitting the team," Lucas sighed. "Imagining all the time I'll free up if I get away from it, escaping all the whispers and pressure of school. Breaking free from my dad and maybe actually being able to have a civil conversation with my mom," he sighed.

He knew he was going to get a typical Whitey Durham speech now because the coach didn't know him like Brooke did. He didn't know that there was no chance he'd never get free of the trap he was in.

"I didn't put Nathan on this team to punish you Lucas. I put Nathan on this team because I had six varsity players suspended and he was the next best player that the school had to offer," Whitey sighed as he saw Lucas tense up at just the mere mention of his half-brothers name. "I'm not saying you two become buddy buddies or whatever but if you could learn to play together, you'd be unstoppable."

Lucas rolled his eyes. To play with Nathan and not against him was just as much of an option as quitting the team as a whole was. He shook his head ashe jumped up to his feet.

"Like that's ever going to happen." He sighed before he pushed open the double doors and walked out of the gym, leaving them to swing behind him.

* * *

"Lucas, I want you to focus alright. Tonight it's all about you and nobody else. I want you to get the ball and run it to basket every single time. Do you hear me?" Dan shouted as he pulled Lucas into an office off the main corridor. His lecture however did not going unheard by the rest of the team who were stood outside as they waited to go out onto the court.

"I got it dad." Lucas sighed as he swung the door open.

Lucas rolled his eyes as the team tried to make it look like they hadn't been listening in. He was determined to show the crowd that he was the only Scott that mattered. His father had drilled the plan into his head, 'don't pass the ball to Nathan' and he didn't plan on it.

The team slowly began to walk out of the tunnel. Tim lead them as he sang a Raven's chat. Whitey following behind them, Dan just behind the old man, both of their eyes focused on the blonde Scott. This game was a crucial one for him.

"Go Lucas." he heard his mom call out and he looked up to see her sat to the left of the tunnel beaming down at him. He felt something he hadn't felt in a long time as he looked up to see his mom there to watch him, no other motives for being there for once. He felt love.

"Hey ma," he mouthed as he grinned at her.

He picked up one of the basketballs from the stand and bounced it up to the court and slammed it through the hoop; his cocky attitude returned to him. His mom was there to watch him play basketball and that was exactly what he intended to do.

* * *

"It's Lucas Scott with the ball; he has been on fire all night. Scoring a mighty thirty six points for the Tree Hill Raven's tonight, although they are still trailing by four." Mouth called out as the blonde took the ball all the way to the net again and slammed up, swinging on the hoop before he dropped down and high fived Tim.

"You're right Mouth; Lucas has played like a madman tonight. There is no doubt his last game will be erased from everybody's minds," Jimmy grinned into the microphone as the two of them sat on the bleachers recording for '.' "Now it's late in the fourth quarter, barely seconds left on the clock and Jagielski runs the ball up the court. He's found Scott who's double teamed, being forced to throw the ball out wide to the wing where Scott is stood waiting. He aims for the net from outside of the three point line..."

"And it's in. Nathan Scott has scored the winning basket that keeps the Raven's with their undefeated record, Whitey Durham beams with pride." Mouth cheered excitedly as the gym exploded with life, everyone happy for a Raven's win. Whitey Durham happier to see his team play together, whether Lucas acknowledged it or not he'd put the Raven's above his rivalry and had passed to Nathan.

"Well done sweetheart," Karen beamed as she ran from the stands and wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck. She knew Dan was going to belittle him for passing to his brother but the boy deserved to know that someone was proud of him, that he could do something right.

"Thanks Ma, I should've got..." Lucas began but he was interrupted as his mom pulled him back in for another hug.

"You played fantastically, don't let him convince you otherwise." She beamed up as the boy was about to begin criticizing himself, it was clear the effect that her words had on him as she saw his eyes light up in a way she hadn't seen for the past couple of years.

"It means a lot that you came ma," Lucas smiled down at her. Maybe she was sleeping with his Uncle behind his Dad's back but she was his mom, as dysfunctional as it was she was the only one that seemed to care in the slightest.

"Now get off, you don't want him ruining your mood. Come home tomorrow honey." she smiled proudly as she kissed him on the cheek before she headed out of the gym doors. She had left him stood on the court stunned.

_Did that really just happen?_

* * *

"I can't believe I had to work and I missed your big game." Haley whined as they walked through school to their lockers. He couldn't help but chuckle when Haley pouted, did the girl not realise just how cute she was.

"Don't worry; I was wondering if you wanted to grab a movie tomorrow night or something?" Nathan grinned as he reached his locker. He swung the door open and pulled out some of the books from the other side.

"Well, I suppose I could be seen with you now." Haley said in possibly the most dramatic tone he'd ever heard her use. He rolled his eyes at her she just shrugged before he nodded at a girl that had walked up to the other side of her best friend and had rested against the lockers.

"Great game." she flirted as she twiddled some of her hair around her fingers before she walked off down the hallway. He couldn't help but smirk and follow her walk away. Haley batted him with the back of her hand to get his attention once more.

"You really are just blowing up; I'm going to go to the tutoring centre where I can feel superior." Haley laughed as she shut her locker and punched him playfully on the arm. She bounced off down the corridor to leave him laughing at his own locker.

"Hey, who's that chick he's always hanging around with?" Lucas smirked as he looked in the direction of the other Scott. He checked out the girl that had just left him to walk into some room he'd never been in.

"Why, you feel like tapping that?" Tim smirked up at him and he just shook his head and laughed. It appeared innocent Haley James was about to be put in the middle of the Scott feud. Not that she was aware of it just yet.

"Hey gorgeous, Luke." Brooke winked as she walked up to the two of them, smirking as her best friend followed her. Peyton raised her eyebrows as a greeting to her boyfriend who just acknowledged her presence with a nod, the tension growing in the air.

"You know Brooke, I can't wait until you decide that you actually do want a bit of the Tim." Tim smirked as he ran his eyes over her body, studying her hungrily.

"Down Dim," she smirked back at him as she put her finger under his chin and forced him to look back up at her face instead of her body. "You boys coming to class anyway? I suppose I could let one of you carry my bags."

"We'll catch you up in two okay," Lucas smirked as he pulled Tim into him.

A brainwave suddenly hit him, he needed to get organised quickly if he wanted to pull it off efficiently. Make his younger brother wish he'd never even considered joining the team, trying to take everything that was his.

"What's up man?" Tim grinned as Lucas pulled him back so they were resting against the lockers. Clearly this was either illegal or gossip and Tim liked to think he specialised in both of those areas.

"Get the boys together; tonight we're going to teach the bastard spawn a lesson once and for all." Lucas smirked as he pushed off the locker and began to walk down the corridor. Tim ran after him to keep up, eager to here more.

"Anything else we need?" Tim smirked; he liked to make himself useful. Which basically meant he acted like Luke's desperate puppy but he didn't care. Luke was his best friend and that's what friendship was, right?

"Rope and a bag, I'll provide the van." Lucas sniggered as they pushed open the door to their English class and slipped into their seats. Both of them looked over at the unsuspecting Nathan. Their night had just got much more interesting.

"Asshole." Peyton sighed as she walked behind them as she followed them into the room. They'd been so absorbed in their plotting they hadn't noticed the curly blonde blowing off her best friend to get her own books out of her locker. She had listened to every word they said.

* * *

"You're Haley James right?" Lucas sighed as he pushed open the door to the tutoring centre; he was struggling to keep the downcast look on his face. He knew playing the bad guy turning good was going to be difficult, especially since he had no interest in turning good.

"What's it to you?" Haley sighed as she looked up. The letterman jacket alone was a warning that she didn't want to go anywhere near the guy. As she looked up she saw Lucas Scott stood in front of her. It sent her body into fight or flight mode, she wanted to get the hell away from him.

"Well, I was hoping you could help me out." He sighed as he placed a slip of paper into her hands. She unwillingly took it and read the words she'd dreaded to see; there was no way that this was actually happening.

"I don't think that this is going to be possible," she rolled her eyes as she handed the paper back to him. She couldn't do that to Nathan, he'd absolutely kill her. There was no way she was going to sacrifice her friendship with him for some extra credit.

"Look, you're the only tutor available and I really need to get my grades up if I want to stay on the team." Lucas pleaded, faking innocence. He frowned slightly as he tried to make it look sincere. He knew that he was seconds away from bursting into laughter.

"I don't..." She began, she was clearly going to lecture him and that he really didn't need. He didn't even need a god damn tutor but it appeared that Nathan Scott may be harder to take down than he'd first thought. Haley James was just a backup plan.

"Just think about it please, you'd really be helping me out." Lucas sighed as he placed the slip down on the desk between them. He offered her a sad smile before he walked out of the door. He'd seen the way her heart had gone out to him, doubting everything she'd thought about him, _fool._

Sitting at the desk she considered what the blonde had said. She could tell that he really did need help yet she refused to do that to her best friend. Tutoring Lucas would only cause more sparks to fly just as everything was seeming to settle down, there was no way she'd allow Lucas to use her to kick off another heap of drama.

"You're friends with Nathan right?" A voice sighed as it entered the room. Haley looked up and saw Peyton stood there leaning awkwardly against the door. She was in two minds about being there. What she was doing definitely wasn't appropriate girlfriend behaviour.

"You're a jackass's girlfriend right?" Haley shot back, why had two of Tree Hills most popular found themselves talking to her in the tutor within the space of ten minutes.

"Retract the claws," Peyton rolled her eyes. She was there to do the girl a favour, not tear her down. "I just thought you should know that Luke's planning on doing something to Nathan tonight, I don't have any more information than that but I just figured you should have the heads up."

The curly blonde spun round to leave before she heard the tutor call her back, probably to doubt how she knew so little yet so much about her boyfriends plan to get his younger brother.

"Why did you tell me this?" Haley raised her eyebrows when Peyton had re-entered the room. Haley looked her up and down to see if she was being serious. She was.

"Luke shouldn't get away with this stuff," Peyton mumbled. The cool exterior she normally wore dropped down as she thought of how much shit sheherself had allowed him to get away with, someone had to stand up at some point. If she couldn't hold her resolve and do it herself she was hoping Nathan could.

* * *

"Yo, Nate." He heard someone call as he stepped outside his mom's cafe to call Haley back. She had been ringing him continuously for the last few hours it was starting to worry him. She was supposed to be tutoring, not phoning him. He'd only just managed to check his phone as he'd left it at the cafe whilst he'd gone for a little one on one with Skills.

He spun round to greet whoever called him he was met by two guys from the team. They grabbed him and pulled him towards a van that was waiting at the end of the alley. 'Dan Scott motors' was the last thing that he managed to read before a bag was thrown over his head and his world went black.

He struggled to free himself and he spent the whole journey wrestling with two guys either side of him. It was clear they weren't going to let up anytime soon. He felt the car come to a stop and dreaded what was to come next. He heard the doors open and close quickly before the cold air hit his face.

Lucas stood back and watched as the guys picked Nathan out of the van and threw him into the swamp. He chuckled to himself as he saw him fall. His younger brother must be freezing.

"So, this is the point where we'd normally crack open a keg and welcome you to the team. But you had to know that wasn't going to happen right?" Lucas smirked as he made his way to the front and stood right in front of his brother.

"What do you want?" Nathan asked as Lucas reached into his pocket. He grabbed his cell phone and threw into the water on the right of him. There was no chance he'd be able to find it now.

"I told you to stay away man; I gave you your warning." Lucas spat as he pushed him back over in the water. "Quit the team or it's just going to get worse for you."

He turned to leave, the rest of the team were already back in the van waiting for the blonde to come drive them home where they were promised beers and playstation.

"I'm not going to leave Lucas," Nathan chuckled. He knew that Lucas was doing this out of fear; fear that he'd become second place. He was afraid to lose the basketball team, the popularity, the girls but most importantly Nathan knew he was scared he'd lose their father.

"We'll see about that," Lucas growled before jumping into the van and sped away.

* * *

"Jump in," Peyton sighed as she pulled alongside the Scott that she was less familiar with. She unlocked the doors so that he could get in easily. She tried to ignore the smell that was coming from him.

"How did-" Nathan began to question.

"You think you're the first guy he's done this to? His stupid little kidnapping thing?" Peyton sighed as Nathan opened the door and warily got into the seat next to her. He still didn't trust the girl one hundred per cent.

"Why do you stay with him?" Nathan asked curiously. He'd often wondered what had kept Peyton in the shitty relationship with Lucas. He personally couldn't see why anyone would want to be with his brother; he truly was an ass.

"Sometimes because I love him, sometimes because he's the only one there." Peyton sighed as she turned around in the road to head back towards Tree Hill. She knew Lucas was going to be furious when he found out she'd picked up Nathan but she'd deal with that later.

"But he's a prick," Nathan shrugged as if it was that simple. "I remember this one time in little league, we were picked to play on the same team and everyone laughed about how our last names were the same. Lucas turned and told them all that it was because I was a 'bastard,' the name stuck until I quit."

"Why did you tell me that? I mean we hardly know each other." Peyton sighed.

She wondered why it was that she could have a serious conversation with her boyfriend's brother yet not her actual boyfriend. She doubted that Lucas would ever open up and be this honest with her, he saved that for Brooke.

"I guess that's the point," Nathan grinned over at her.

The smile was so familiar; clearly it was a Scott thing. She groaned as she rested her head against the steering wheel before she looked up and saw his crooked smile laughing at her, _Guys are such jerks._

* * *

Lucas groaned as he heard the doorbell go. He figured he better answer it before his mom or dad did, he raced to the door. He swung it open he expected it to be Tim or Peyton, maybe Brooke if he was lucky. He didn't expect it to be Haley James.

"I'll do you a deal," Haley crossed her arms over her chest protectively as if he'd attack her if she did otherwise.

He nodded at her to continue as he allowed his eyes to flick over her; he could see what Nathan liked. There was something pure and whole about her, the wicked world of Tree Hill was yet to taint her like it had the rest of them.

"I'll tutor you on two conditions. One, Nathan doesn't know." She sighed, instantly regretting going behind her best friends back in the worst way possible.

"Sounds great," Lucas smirked. She'd recognise the Scott grin anywhere and it felt like Nathan was there himself smiling at her; she couldn't help but meekly smile back at him.

"And two, you leave Nathan alone," she rushed out the last part. The most important part. She knew there was no chance that Lucas would ever back down and allow their lives to return to normal unless someone stepped up and got in the way, she'd volunteered herself. "No more tricks like tonight," she muttered.

"Tonight? How do you-" Lucas began but was silenced by a look.

"It doesn't matter how I know, so are you in or out?" Haley questioned, a part of her hoping that for her own selfish sake he'd back out now and let her leave.

"In, definitely in. I'll leave your golden boy," he smirked. After Nathan's attitude tonight he knew there was no chance he'd ever back down unless forced. It was clearly time for Plan B.

* * *

_So i hope you like it, leave me a review to let me know though please?_


	4. Gossip

_So i haven't updated this is so long but hope some of you are still reading and will enjoy this latest chapter let me know what you guys think!_

* * *

"Well well, would you look at this. My wife's home and she's cooked us dinner," Dan beamed as he walked into the kitchen to find Karen slaving over the stove. A delicious smell rising up out of it and into the air. "It's nice to see you at home for longer than ten minutes."

"Sorry I've been so busy of late, you know how business is," Karen said as she smiled and walked around the kitchen. She quickly grabbed a utensil out of the draw before going back to the stove. "Hey Lucas, how are you holding up?"

"I've gotta go, I'm already late for warm up." Lucas said as he sighed as he picked his bag up from the floor and strapped it onto his back. _Here goes the charade again, _he thought.

"Oh come on Luke, surely you can just sit down and grab a bite to eat with us." Karen pleaded.

Lucas found himself wondering, if Karen was begging because she wanted to spend time with him or was she begging because she wanted him to act as a buffer between her and Dan.

"I can't mom," he sighed before he headed towards the door. He turned at the last minute, shocking both himself and Karen. "You coming to the game tonight?"

"I wouldn't miss it," she told him as she beamed back at him.

He dropped his features into a loose grin before he turned and walked out the door. She turned and smiled at Dan, happy to have some success at getting through to him but he was already tucked into the food she had dished up.

* * *

"Oh come on, we're supposed to be a team. Scott, you're playing selfish. I want you both to get out there and act like you actually know each other! If we lose this game because of your greed then you'll be benched for the rest of the season. Got it?" Whitey yelled as he called a time out.

Having had his midweek chat with Lucas, he was hoping that he might have gotten through to the blonde and have him cooperate with his brother. Although if anything, Lucas had just gotten worse.

Lucas just stood and smirked at him, Whitey's threats were pretty empty. Even with Nathan joining the team there was no way the old man could afford to bench his star player. He was pretty sure of that.

Looking away from the huddle he glanced up the bleachers. Haley was sat there clutching her bag to her lap, clearly nervous about something. He shot her a grin and she instantly began to blush before lifting her hand and giving him a shaky wave. _She's so innocent,_ he thought.

He looked then towards the cheerleaders. Brooke and Peyton stood in the center of them looking towards the players. He smirked casually at Brooke and she just frowned at him before she gestured towards Peyton.

He briefly wondered if they were breaking up or making up at this point and realized that he had yet to grovel to get his girlfriend back. He rolled his eyes at Brooke who shook her head at him in return, before he moved his gaze onto to Peyton. She had clearly noted that he had looked at Brooke first, so she shot him a glare before looking elsewhere.

_Girls, _he thought as he shook his head.

"Scott! Stop staring at the cheerleaders and get your head back in this game." Whitey yelled as they all ran back onto the court, ready to start play. He looked over at Tim who was laughing at him, shaking his head as the jogged alongside each other.

"Thinking about who you're going to be scoring with later man?" Tim grinned as he glanced up at the cheerleaders himself. He couldn't help but eye up Brooke Davis. All of the basketball players wanted her, but she'd become withdrawn lately. Her wild partying ways had died down a bit.

"I haven't had Peyton in a while, so I might check in there." Lucas grinned as he let his eyes wonder up and down the blonde.

She was his, which meant that he had to make sure that the rest of the guys at school remembered that. As bad as he treated her and even though their relationship had all but deteriorated. He didn't want anyone else to have the curly blonde, so he thought that he had better claim her tonight.

"I'm going to jump the sack with Brooke." Tim grinned at him and Luke just shook his head.

There was _no _chance that Tim would score with Brooke. She had been with quite a few guys from the basketball team before they had been suspended, but she was keeping herself reserved this season. Lucas liked that fact. He hated hearing the locker room talk about her and there did happen to be a lot.

He did always wonder what it would be like however, to have slept with the notorious Brooke Davis. He'd never heard any of the guys say a bad word about her. In fact they all seemed to pine for another go. He wondered what would have happened if she had never set him up with Peyton. Would they have had a drunk fumble together. Or would they have found themselves in their own unhealthy relationship. He couldn't help but think what it would be like to have his arms wrapped around the brunette as they got lost in the throes of passion, instead of her best friend though.

"Lucas!" Whitey shouted which quickly snapped him out of his thoughts as the ball was thrown down the court.

He quickly ran after it before he slammed it into the net and clapped Tim on the back. He loved getting under Whitey's skin like that. Moments were his skill shone through almost always managed to irritate the old man.

The ball was thrown back onto the court again. Lucas started off with it before bouncing it over to Tim and heading up the court. He found himself quickly double teamed however and failed to break free. He watched Tim throw the ball out to Nathan who threw the ball from outside the line to score three points for the team.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked him annoyed.

"He had a better angle. Luke, come on man I'm just trying to win." Tim continued to follow Lucas around the court begging, until the game came to an end with the Tree Hill Ravens winning comfortably.

"Come on Lucas, you can't not talk to me." Tim continued to whine as they made their way down the tunnel and into the changing rooms. Lucas purposefully hung back until most of the team had left, including Tim who'd needed to be forced out the room.

"So you've had three decent games in a row now. You're either getting better or you're just lucky. Anyways the team's gonna party tonight, my parent's beach house." Lucas turned to face the only other person that was running late, his brother.

"Why are you telling me that?" Nathan asked as he looked up curiously and turned to face the blonde. He looked sincere but then he knew what both Dan and Lucas were like, the perfect little actors.

"Cause I said the team didn't I?" Lucas raised his eyebrows as if it was obvious. "It's gonna be a long season so we might as well deal with it."

Lucas widened his eyes at Nathan before he grabbed his bag and headed out of the changing rooms.

* * *

"Why are we doing this?" Haley muttered as she stepped into Nathan's car.

He had told her he was picking her up to take her to the team's party at Lucas' house. Shehad almost died of shock. She couldn't help the nerves she felt at seeing Lucas. Not because of his charm or looks but for the fear that he would open up Pandora's Box and tell Nathan what they had agreed to keep a secret.

"Look, I know it's a setup okay. I know that he's probably just going to talk me down all night. But he offered this up as a challenge, he doesn't think I'll show up Hales. I can't let this guy win." Nathan told her as he sighed and set off towards the beach house. Everyone in Tree Hill knew where the Scott's beach house was. Tonight was the first night however that Nathan would step foot in it.

"He might not, maybe he did just invite you because he's tired of the whole thing and he's trying to settle it. You don't think that maybe he could have had a change of heart?" Haley shrugged casually as she offered the suggestion. She knew that Nathan was probably going to tear it down immediately.

"That would require a heart Hales," Nathan chuckled as he shot a glance at her and noticed that she was sunk into her seat and staring out of the window. A very un-Haley thing to do. He nervously asked. "Are you okay Hales?"

He thought of something being wrong scared him however it didn't scare him as much as knowing that she was keeping something from him.

"Perfect, I just don't want to go." She whispered and he just nodded and focused back on the road.

He wondered when the silences they shared had gone from comfortable and easy to the awful piercing one that they were sat in now.

~X~

"Every time I get in your car I swear it's the last time!" Brooke protested as she jumped quickly out of Peyton's car as soon as they'd pulled up outside the party. Peyton just got out and laughed at her.

"Thanks for the ride Peyton." she mocked the brunette who just stuck her tongue out and hit her lightly on the arm. It wasn't long before their banter was interrupted by Tim running in between them and begging like a puppy.

"Peyton, tell him. You saw that Nathan had the better shot!" Tim held onto her arm and she had to shake him off. Every time Lucas got pissed at Tim he'd coming begging to Peyton to try and get her to change his mind, as if he actually believed she had some control over him.

"Tim, are you being pathetic again?" Brooke smirked as she looked down at him. He instantly straightened himself up and tried to put on his 'cool' face. Brooke just laughed at and looked up to see who had just arrived.

"What's he doing here?" Tim cried out as Nathan and Haley both exited the car and began to wander round to where the three of them were stood.

"I invited him. Y'know, since you two are such good friends and all." Lucas smirked as he walked round the side of the house and down to meet his brother and Haley. He was hoping that the bastard would bring her and it appeared he'd fallen right for the trap.

"What are you trying to pull?" Peyton asked as she glared at him and he just shrugged back innocently.

"Nothing," he smiled as he walked down the steps of the decking and towards the two of them. Lucas and Nathan ended up stood opposite each other. "I wasn't sure you were going to come."

"Trust me, neither was I." Nathan shot back as he moved around Lucas and towards the house. Haley followed close behind until the blonde slipped in between the two of them.

"Hi, Lucas Scott." He introduced himself casually and offered his hand out to Haley who took it nervously.

"Haley." she replied. She hoped that this wasn't some game he was playing to get back at her best friend and that it was to show her how serious he was about the tutoring offer.

"I know." he smirked as he followed them both up into the house, walking past Brooke, Peyton and Tim.

* * *

"What are you doing in here Karen?" Dan asked as he reached the top of the stairs and found Lucas' bedroom door wide open. Karen was sat on the bed, looking around at the walls and the piled up clutter Lucas had covering the surfaces.

"He used to ask me before he did stuff in his room, before he put posters on the wall of the films he loved at the time or basketball players he idolized. Not I don't know what he's interested in." Karen sighed as she put down a DVD that had been thrown on his bed.

It was a chick flick which she presumed was Peyton's or Brooke's. She often found it confusing which one he was dating and which one he actually loved. He'd grown so confusing to her as he'd gradually began to morph into his father.

"Basketball." Dan grinned at her as if it was a joke.

Basketball was the only thing that ever seemed to spark conversation in the cold house, the majority of it coming from Dan. It had seemed that even the blonde boy that used to love the sport had grown tired of it.

"He changes from day to day at the moment. Sometimes he's that innocent little boy asking me to spend time with him and hang out with him again and then at others he's so closed off and distant that I don't know how to break down the barriers anymore. He talks to you thought Dan, how's he doing?" Karen asked. She was tired of the way her life had turned out.

"He's doing well. I mean having Nathan on the team has shaken him a little and he put in a few bad performances but you know. He'll pull through, he scored some good shots in practice this week and his average is still pretty high." Dan thought about it.

"I asked how he is Dan, not how he's playing. It must be so confusing with him having to play with Nathan and having to cope with that when he's never had to before. Sharing his life with a brother he's never even had to acknowledge until now." Karen worried for her son. She looked at her husband in the hope that he could sort this out for their boy.

"I think that's just temporary." Dan murmured as he stood up and began to walk out the room. He turned back to look at his wife before he exited and headed down the stairs to pour himself a stiff drink.

"Think or wish?" Karen mumbled to herself before she wiped a loose tear off her face before she left the room. She looked over it from the doorway once more before shutting the door firmly.

* * *

"How's the tutoring going?" Haley spun round as she exited the bathroom to find Peyton leaning against the opposite wall with her arms folded across her body. Her curiosity got the better of her as she approached the shy girl.

Peyton couldn't help but let a smug grin play on her face as the girl opened her mouth to deny that it was happening. She loved being in the position where people found her intimidating and powerful considering she had little power with either Brooke or Lucas.

"You're tutoring Luke, it's okay, he is my boyfriend. We tell each other _everything._" Peyton shrugged casually as she exaggerated her relationship. She'd had to snoop through his bag and watch him meet Haley to find out. He never told her _anything_.

"He just needed some help." Haley muttered looking from side to side, eager for a way out from this confrontation.

Peyton looked her over as she wondered whether the girl was trying to sneak in on her man. She realized that the naive girl wasn't a threat at all. She wouldn't be able to entertain Lucas if she tried.

"Then maybe you can teach him to stop being such a jackass." she smirked at the girl who let out a meek giggle back.

"I'll put it on the lesson plan." Haley smiled as she turned and headed away from the curly blonde. She tried to look for Nathan so that the two of them could get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

"Does Nathan know you're tutoring Lucas?" Peyton asked and smirked as she noticed that Haley had stopped and was slowly turning round to face her, mouth open once again, ready to deny something.

"You know, you say an awful lot when you keep your mouth shut," Peyton chuckled as she pushed herself of the wall and walked round Haley so that she was standing in front of her, smiling at her. "I'll keep mine shut too."

Peyton turned and walked away, leaving Haley to panic in peace. _Would Peyton really keep her mouth shut?_

* * *

"I've never had sex with someone on the baseball, football and basketball team." Teresa said.

She giggled as she watched Brooke carefully. She burst into laughter as the brunette picked up the cup and tipped the contents into her mouth quickly.

"Brooke Davis!" Lucas scolded in a laughing manner as he slung his arm casually around the back of her chair.

He had no chance of getting laid tonight with Peyton watching over him like a hawk. There was no way she was going to put out either. He figured he'd block Brooke off so that he at least had someone to keep him entertained, when everyone else started to pass out or head up to a bedroom.

"Nathan, come play." Bevin called out as the newest member of the team walked into the kitchen to get a beer. He looked up to find the inner circle of the popular crowd, complete with Brooke and Lucas sat at the table looking at him expectantly.

"We're playing I've never, basically someone says something they've ever done and if you've done it you have to drink. It's your turn Davis." Lucas smirked as someone handed him a drink and Brooke began to pout.

"I've never, oh no. I did do that," She giggled before looking at Lucas who just raised his eyebrows at her and nipped her waist, causing her to laugh harder. "Okay okay, I've never had sex with Lucas Scott."

"But you did. Remember that time?" Lucas joked as the table looked at him seriously before Brooke slapped him and they all burst out laughing. "Well feel free to use me anytime you want baby."

Lucas winked at her and she pretended to slap him again as several girls who were playing picked up their drink and downed it. Nathan was shocked to see how many girls openly publicized that fact that his brother had slept with them on a one off.

"My turn," Lucas chuckled coldly which made Nathan look up sharply. There was no chance that Lucas had let him join the came without knowing he'd get a chance to put one down on Nathan. "I've never had a dad that wished I was a stain on the bed sheets."

Lucas smirked as a few of the guys burst out laughing and high fived each other. Everyone else looked up at Nathan, curious to see what the raven haired boy was going to do. Everyone but Brooke who turned to look at Lucas. She knew just how threatened he felt by his brother but wondered why he had to act like the jerk she knew he wasn't all the time.

Nathan moved around so that he was stood behind Lucas and bent down to lean over him. He slammed his cup on the table just in front of him, bending lower so that his mouth was hovering near Lucas ear.

"Then you're welcome to mine!" he spat as he stood up and moved away from the kitchen.

* * *

"I'm ready to go," Nathan murmured as he bumped into Haley at the bottom of the stairs. He glared at a few of the popular people who had left the table shortly after him, no doubt the light going atmosphere of the game had died down after Nathan's comment.

"What's happened Nathan?" She sighed as she ran her hand down his arm and tried to comfort him as best as she could, her heart instantly going out to him. She'd known coming to the party was a bad idea and that Lucas would probably just toy with her best friend, despite her begging him to leave Nathan alone.

"Oh just some feeble comment that he thought was funny." Nathan chuckled to himself before shaking his head.

"Have the two of you just ever sat down and talked?" Haley asked suddenly, causing Nathan to look up at her like she'd just grown three heads or said that she was moving to the Arctic to marry an Eskimo.

"Yeah of course, we text on a daily basis too." Nathan chuckled at the joke, wondering what the hell had gotten into Haley. There was as much chance of him and Lucas talking as there was Angelina Jolie ringing him up and telling him that she loved him.

"No I just mean that you're so sensitive around each other, it's like you can't be around each other without both of you getting worked up and lashing out. Maybe if you just sat down and talked you'd realize that you're both not as bad as the other thinks and that it's all just been built up by everyone in this town!" Haley ranted on. She realized that she shouldn't have said anything as she saw his features cloud over.

"I'm not gonna let him win Hales, and why are you defending him?" Nathan questioned darkly, his voice void of all emotion as he glared at her. He couldn't believe she was sticking up for the guy that had treated him like trash for the majority of his life.

"Don't let him win then, I'm going home." She sighed as she wrapped her jacked tighter around her and stormed away from him and the house, ignoring his shouts for her to come back to him.

"Are you leaving?" Lucas grabbed her as he saw her storm away from Nathan. He was glad to see that he was already causing problems for the golden boy.

"Lucas, we had a deal. You promised me you'd be nice," Haley glared as she shrugged him off and looked around to make sure that Nathan hadn't followed her outside of the house. Although there were little people due to the cool breeze and she was scared to be this alone with Lucas. She never knew what he'd try or what his ulterior motives were.

"I was, I am being. I invited him to this stinking party didn't I?" Lucas protested, convincing Haley he was a good guy when he himself knew he wasn't was a harder task then he thought it would be.

"Yeah, so that you could pick on him in public," Haley glared at him as confusion flickered across his face. "What did you say to him anyways?"

"Oh man, is that what this is about? Look sometimes the guys rub each other up a little, it's nothing personal. I was just trying to include him." Lucas smiled softly at her as he made himself look as innocent as possible and he knew she'd fall for it.

"Fine, maybe you should change tactics." Haley murmured as she pushed him away and headed down the beach to ring the taxi to come and pick her up. She didn't want to hang around with either Scott anymore.

* * *

"Dan, we need to talk about Lucas. He's so distant and I think that you pressuring him with basketball is just making him worse." Karen sighed as she walked into his study, ready for the argument she was sure would come when she told him to back of Lucas.

"Me? You're blaming this all on me? At least I'm here Karen, I'm not away working at all hours of the day and for up to weeks at a time." Dan raged as he stood up from his seat and walked over to her, fists clenched.

"You wanna know why I'm always working Dan? Cause ever since you forced that god damn basketball into his hands it's all you've allowed him to think about. You stole him away from me and brought him up to think that this stupid ball game is all that matters." Karen yelled back in his face, waving her arms around.

"What?" Dan seethed as he glared at the woman he once loved.

"You make me irrelevant in his life Dan!" Karen screamed once more as she stormed away from him and marched back and forth.

"We shut you out? Work has always come first with you; you have constantly put it above this family." Dan slammed one of his fists against the book shelf, causing a few to topple off and land on the floor.

"That's not fair and you know it! I have always juggled my career and this family but at least my career doesn't feel me leaving like crap. Out there I'm doing something that means something, what I'm doing matters, here, in this house," she yelled waving around her hands some more. "You've made it so that what I do and what I say doesn't matter. If I'd known the way you'd raise our son I would never have left him here to turn out the way he has!"

"He's a good kid Karen," Dan glared at her; he wasn't going to allow her to stand there and slate his son.

"Based on what? His point's average?" Karen shot back quickly, trying to calm herself down.

"I'm just doing what makes him happy, if basketball is what makes the kid happy you can't take that away from him Karen." Dan sighed as he retreated back to his chair and lowered himself into, leaning back casually.

"Well that boy I saw earlier Dan, he's anything but happy." Karen snapped before she left the study, leaving Dan on his own.

* * *

"Don't let me have another beer unless I beg you, same goes for boys." Brooke smirked as she slipped down next to Peyton on the stairs. She had decided to go slightly off the rails after she'd shaken Lucas off.

"I don't think I can do this anymore Brooke," Peyton sighed as she looked up at her best friend and tears pooled in her eyes. "I can't pretend that him not caring about me anymore doesn't hurt. I can't go on acting as if this relationship can survive anything and I certainly can't carry on turning a blind eye to the stuff that he does behind my back. The stuff that runs around school for weeks after he does it and I'm supposed to not hear it, pretend that I haven't heard the latest rumor about him sleeping with some girl."

"Come on Peyt, you know he cares about you. Lucas just has a funny way of showing it sometimes. He's under a lot of pressure at the moment from his dad and with Nathan joining the team. He's just going through some stuff." Brooke sighed as she once again tried to save the doomed relationship.

"No, I don't know and do you know why I don't know Brooke? I don't know because he's too busy telling _you_ about his problems. Or he's just trying to get in my pants. He never sits down and actually has a conversation with me like he used to. He's not interested in this relationship anymore and neither am I." Peyton huffed as he placed her head in her hands.

"Peyton you're wrong, Lucas loves you. He told me only the other night that he does." Brooke lied as she rubbed her friend soothingly on the back. This sure was one way to get sobered up. Personally she'd rather just take the hangover.

"He loves me? If he loves me so much why is he so interested in trying to get with Haley. Nathan's friend." She added when the brunette looked at her confused, having no idea who this 'Haley' girl was.

"I've tried Peyt, if you're not happy with you and Luke anymore then end it for good and stand by your decision. We both know that you'll go on about this tonight and I'll ring one of you tomorrow night and you'll be hooking up once more. You're both as bad as each other. So do something that will really shock us all. Either stand by your words and finish with him or sort the relationship out so we don't have to have this conversation next week. 'Cause I'm done with these chats." Brooke sighed as she pushed up from the stairs and stormed down them quickly. She tried to be as easy going as possible but her best friend dumping all of her shit onto her was not what she signed up to.

"Brooke, what's up?" Lucas ran towards her urgently. All she'd wanted to do was get out of the house and collect her thoughts before returning to her drunken state once more.

"You, you're what's up Luke." Brooke growled as she pushed him away and pushed the double patio doors open with a slam and marched her way down onto the beach. She tried to ignore the blonde that was easily keeping up with her.

"What have I done Pretty Girl? I've been inside the house all the time, I've been behaving I swear. I haven't even had chance to look at another girl tonight with Peyton following me anyway so what could I have done?" He gave her a rare genuine smile and grabbed her arm, spinning her around so quickly so that she fell into his arms.

"You can't call me that Lucas, you know Peyton doesn't like it." Brooke grumbled as she allowed herself to fall further into his embrace. She decided to not give a fuck what Peyton thought right then. If she wanted to hug her best friend then that's what she was going to do.

"I don't care what Peyton doesn't like, but I do care to know what's got you in such a pickle." He chuckled lightly as he kissed the top of her head and pulled her down onto the sand as he dropped down. He grinned as she fell into his lap and didn't bother to move herself. His arms were wrapped around her and his hands rested on the small of her back.

"That's the point Luke. You're meant to care about what Peyton thinks. She's your girlfriend," Brooke sighed as she nuzzled her face into his neck and allowed her senses to become filled with Lucas Scott.

"This thing between me and Peyton is over Brooke, everyone knows that." Lucas sighed as he ran a hand down her arm casually, sighing as he looked out towards the water.

"Then why doesn't one of you do something about? Why do you both whine to me and expect me to sort it out." Brooke moaned as she sunk further against him and wrapped her arms tight around his neck. She felt him tighten his arms around her in response.

"I'm just waiting for Peyton to call it quits and mean it. I could finish it all tomorrow and be happy if that's what you want me to do?" Lucas questioned with a grin. The thought of being free from the blonde permanently sounded great.

"No, that would just upset Peyton too much." She grumbled into his chest once more which caused him to laugh lightly again, _typical Brooke. _Even whilst whining about Peyton she still kept the girls interest at heart, something Lucas can say he never did.

"Why didn't we ever date Brooke?" He asked seriously as he looked down and looked at her properly for the first time in a while. She'd grown up from being his childhood best friend. She was now a teenage queen bee with so many possibilities that it was crazy.

"Because you're with Peyton and I've never found you attractive enough." Brooke smirked and laughed at his put out face. He pouted at her a little more before she covered his mouth gently with her hand. She scrunched up her face in disgust when he licked it in protest.

"Don't lie Davis." he dropped his tone and smiled lazily at her as she wiped her hand over his shirt covered chest to get rid of his saliva.

It was a look that made him look far too sexy for his own good and he was more than aware of it. He looked from her eyes down to her mouth and noticed that her breathing had sped up to match his own. He looked back up at her eyes to notice that her own were focused on his mouth. The two of them slowly moved towards each other, unable to resist something they'd both been denying for too long.

"Yo Scott, beer pong now!" Vegas yelled across the beach, abruptly cutting the atmosphere and ending the moment between the two friends. They jumped up awkwardly and began to make their way back to the house in silence. Both contemplating what could have and probably would have happened if the Raven hadn't interrupted.

* * *

"You're still here, what a surprise." Dan chuckled as Karen walked into the kitchen the following morning. The tension in the atmosphere still raw from the arguments that had happened the previous nights.

"But Lucas isn't where is he Dan?" Karen asked as she slammed a glass down on the counter before filling it with water, keeping her eyes focused on her husband at all times.

It had appeared that whilst she'd been preoccupied with work and Keith that everything back home had slipped to beyond bearable and rather than running from it now she'd have to step up. She owed it to Lucas.

"I'm cutting down my hours at the office; I'm going to be spending a lot more time at home from now on to ensure that my son is happy." Karen stated happily, knowing that this was probably interfering with some of Dan's plans.

"That really isn't necessary Karen; I didn't mean what I said last night about work." Dan interrupted immediately; there was no need for her to cut back on work.

"Oh it is Dan and that's what's happening. There's nothing that you can do to change it." Karen smiled sweetly at him as he jumped up out of his chair and marched out the room. She hadn't expected him to be overjoyed that she would be home more often now. She herself wasn't over the moon about it but it was what had to be done for Lucas' sake.

She remembered back to a few days ago when Keith had asked her for the hundredth time to just leave Dan and be with him. She'd taken it more seriously than the other times and asked him if he'd protect Lucas, save Lucas from becoming a man like his father.

For him to turn around and tell Karen that it was too late for Lucas, he was already Dan's little clone had been too far. There was no way she could bear to face that truth just yet, she told him that she wouldn't be seeing him anymore and then left, determined to sort out the mess that her and Lucas' life had become.

* * *

"So, you're avoiding me right." Haley smiled up as she saw Nathan walking towards the counter looking awkward. She tilted her head to the side and grinned at him in the hope that he'd come round and the two of them could go back to goofing around.

"A little." he shrugged as she began pouring him his usual coffee. She turned to look over her shoulder and shot him a look; a look that told him everything he needed to know. She was sorry, she missed him and she wanted them to stop arguing.

"I was just trying to help you; I just thought that maybe if you tried looking at him from his point of view it may help you understand why he does what he does." She sighed as she moved around the counter and pulled her stubborn best friend into her arms. She knew that the best way to get him to forget everything was always to just give him a big hug.

"Promise me that we can still talk to each other Hales, that we won't keep secrets and that we never will." Nathan begged as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her further into the big hug, causing her to smile at how tight he was holding her.

"Of course we can." Haley lied as she buried her face into his chest so that he couldn't see the blatant lie that she'd just told him.

But he didn't have to see her face to know that she was lying. He could hear it in her voice and see it in her actions; she had a secret that was huge and a secret that she was purposefully keeping from him.

* * *

_Let me know what you think!_


End file.
